The Last Minoru
by JaguarsCreator
Summary: It seems Nico's wizardly heritage was only a secret to herself. Now an ancient society is seeking her out, and they may be able to give her the one thing she wants the most: the power to resurrect the dead. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

"_We won't all live through this, will we, Alex?"_

"_What are you talking about? We're going to be fine, Nico. We just have to stick to the—"_

"_People always say teenagers think they're immortal, but I… I don't think that. I mean, all I ever think about is death. When my mom jammed that staff-thing into my chest, all I could think was… I'm surprised I even lived _this_ long."_

"_I know exactly what you mean?"_

"_You _do_?"_

"_Totally. Even before all this. It's like, everyday, the people in charge seem to make the world a little more screwed up…." She leaned in. "…but there's nothing anyone our age can--"_

"Give it back, Chase!" shouted the high-pitched voice of Molly.

"You're going to have to catch me." _Thump thump Craaash!_ "Why so upset, you've got like ten of these anyway."

As if this house wasn't damaged enough already. Nico yawned and stretched her head to see the clock on her left wall. Half-past eleven? Christ, how could she let herself sleep in so late? She threw off her covers and searched frantically for a bathrobe; putting on one of her dresses would not leave her enough time to stop whatever crisis Chase had started. As she stubbed her toe on her nightstand she remembered why she was so tired: last night a simple viewing of a movie Chase had 'borrowed' somehow devolved into a raucous party. She and Victor had to stay up all night cleaning the place.

"I mean it," Molly shouted. "Give. It. Back!"

"Molly, don't throw that couch." _THUUUUMP_. The room shook. Nico kept from falling over; but her black nail polish was now sprayed across the floor, making crossbones in the carpet.

"Don't waste another spell," she calmly told herself, grinding her teeth. "Don't waste another spell." She pulled her robe off the wall and wrapped herself in it. Marching out, she found Karolina drinking tea in the kitchen.

"Morning," the blonde alien greeted less-than-cheerfully.

"What's going on this time?"

"Chase took one of Molly's hats and now they're running around wrecking the place. I think Klara is following them."

"I never thought I'd say this, but Molly's a bad influence. Is Victor up yet?"

"Haven't seen him."

"Guess it's up to the den mother then." Nico sighed. "You using this knife?"

"No. Why?"

"I need something to shake at them. _When blood is shed…_" Nico lightly impaled her fingertip until it bled "_…let the Staff of One emerge_." The Witchbreaker's Staff shot out like a spear from her chest. She grasped it and followed the path of destruction through the Malibu home.

I'm not going to waste a spell, she told herself. I'm just going to wave the staff around and scream my lungs out. Truthfully, Nico felt a lot safer with the staff in her hand. When it was inside of her she felt irritated and susceptible, but holding it she felt secure, comforted and powerful. It didn't stop her from getting angry though, especially when she saw the destroyed room where Molly had thrown the couch. Boy was she going to give it to those two.

"He's heading for the field," Molly's distant voice shouted. "Tower of Flower, wrap some vines around him." They were on the terrace. Nico arrived to see Chase literally heading for the hills while the two tweens looked on. (Molly was shaking her fist).

"Just what is going on here?"

"It's Nico!" cried Klara.

Molly jerked in surprise but quickly feigned a sad puppy look. "Chase started it," she said. "He stole my hat." Molly pointed to her uncovered chestnut hair.

"Chase," Nico called to as he ran further from the house. "Chase!" She screamed. Dammit, she was in no mood for this. She raised her staff and banged it hard on the floor, yelling "_Sit Boy!_"

A distant _thunk_ could be heard as Chase suddenly collapsed face-first into the ground.

"Coool," said Molly.

"Great," said Nico. "I wasted a spell."

"I think I hear something," said Klara.

"Heeeelp," called Chase from a distance. "This reeealy hurts."

* * *

"We. Simply. Cannot keep living like this." Nico had gathered the team in what was left of the living room. Molly, Klara, Karolina, Victor and Chase sat rolling their eyes, expecting 'the talk.' "We've already lost two hideouts. This house has neighbors; it won't be long before one of them calls the police about the ruckus we make. And we don't have Xavin anymore to play camp counselor."

"Sheesh, Nico, it was your idea to find a place instead of living in the leapfrog," said Karolina. "What do you want from us?"

"What do I want? Molly, stop wrecking the place. Chase, stop being an ass. The rest of you, start cleaning up the place."

"As much as I agree with you, Nico," said Victor, "I think our biggest worry right now is cash, not a messy house. After last night, there's no food left in the fridge.

"No worries," said Chase, still rubbing the bruises Nico had given him. "I've been thinking."

"This outta be good," sighed Karolina.

"Our parents were high class crooks, right? Remember Gert's parents? They stole stuff from the past, and we saw some of it in their basement. I bet if we check each of our 'rents' lairs we can find all kinds of valuables, and maybe even cold cash. It pays more than getting a job."

"Yeah, but what do we do with those valuables?" questioned Nico. "Sell them on E-bay?"

"Well, if we're talking jewels and stuff I know some pawn shops. If not, then yeah, E-bay should work. You'd be surprised how much some couch potato collector will pay."

"Except we need cash, not credit."

"Come on, Nico," said Karolina. "Searching our old homes might not be a bad idea. Who knows what we'll find?"

"I had an allowance I hid under my bed," said Molly. "It was at least fifteen dollars. Plus, Klara gets to see my room."

Klara gaped at Molly. "You had your own room?"

"It sounds like we're in agreement," said Victor. "What do you think, Nico?"

"You mean how you totally turned my meeting off topic? Sure, let's go raid our 'rents. We don't have anything better to do." A crooked painting fell from the wall to the floor.

* * *

"WE WANT BLAINE! WE WANT BLAINE!" The enormous crowd clapped and stomped their feet alongside the exuberant chanting. A chorus of cheers and shouts erupted when a middle-aged man with light brown, combed over hair and a large, never-ending smile took the podium. He waved and the crowd kept cheering. It was a full minute before they quieted down enough for him to start speaking.

"I see you've all been reading the recent polls." The crowd again cheered. "When I first announced my campaign, I never thought I would end up running virtually unopposed for mayor of Los Angeles."

Blaine again gave the crowd time to cheer. His smile turned into an inward grin; if it wasn't for the death of the Pride he would never be in such a good situation. Amidst the great crackdown on city corruption after that mob's demise, the current mayor was discovered to be involved in a whole host of scandals; the Pride has practically bought his election. Of course, he had good enough lawyers to avoid a lifetime in prison, but the fool still wanted to be reelected. The people wanted someone new, and good old Michael Blaine was there to fill that want.

He gave his speech. It was filled with buzz words and great throwaway lines that really got the people stirred, mostly about all the recent corruption. He promised to end it, of course; never mind _how _he would do it, he just needed something the papers could quote him on. His writers had been careful to not make the speech too serious; after all, it wasn't like he was running for goddamn governor (although that was a long term goal).

Then came the questions. Blaine widened his smile; he had a prepared list of ambiguous answers for all the hot button issues they were sure to ask about. Immigration, the economy…

"Since the Pride has disappeared there has been a substantial increase in metacrime and vigilantism. It is suspected that during their reign, the Pride kept these types of people out of Los Angeles, but now that they are gone the metahumans are starting to return. It is even rumored that the Pride's children are causing some of the damage. What will be your response if these activities continue to increase?"

Blaine was surprised, but he quickly regained his composure and answered the reporter. "This is not New York. When crime happens, the LAPD handles it like it always has."

"But Mr. Blaine," someone cried, "How can we trust corrupt law enforcers to fight supervillains?"

"There are _no _supervillains," Blaine emphasized. "Despite what the tabloids say, there's no reason to believe all the big bads in New York are going to hitchhike across the country to a place where law enforcers shoot bullets instead of webs. As for the LAPD, reforms started once the Pride was discovered, reforms which I intend to continue."

"What about the Pride's children?" asked another concerned reporter. "Eyewitnesses say they show up here and there fighting crime."

"Once again, this is not New York. Vigilantism will not be tolerated. If we find the Pride's children, they will face the same penalties as anyone else."

The majority of the crowd cheered; a few shook their heads uneasily. Far in the back, a tall man pulled a hood over his head and briskly walked to a more deserted area.

* * *

"Are we all here?"

"The round table can scarcely seat more."

"Then put up the magical barrier."

Gathered in a decrepit library around a circular table were over twenty figures in ornate hooded robes, not all of the same style. One wielded a long, wooden staff with a crooked bend near the top. She tapped the ground twice and muttered some words under her breath. A translucent red shield emanated from her and soon surrounded the entire room. No outsider would be able to hear or see anyone within unless they themselves had arcane knowledge.

"This meeting of representatives of the Guild Arcana will now commence," said the woman with the staff. "Enchanters, Sorcerers, Wizards and Witches, you know our business. Tina and Robert Minoru are dead. Only their daughter remains. Across the Orient, all remnants of the Minoru clan have been hunted to extinction. No other lives. She is truly the last Minoru."

"How ironic," spoke up one of the hooded conspirators. "With the power they gained from that heathenish Pride, we were afraid they were going to rebuild their shattered clan."

"You don't know the Minorus," replied another. "They were a family of cheats and liars, incapable of trust by other users of the dark arts or even each other. They have been the Guild's rivals for centuries."

"The girl has allies," continued the leader, "consisting mainly of the Pride's other children. She may also be in contact with other witches. Initial reports claimed she wielded the Staff of One. Now her power has increased and she wields the Witchbreaker's Staff."

"Impossible," cried another. "The Witchbreaker's Staff was lost over a hundred years ago."

"My toads do not lie."

"Does she have any enemies? Anyone that we can manipulate?"

"The girl and her band of runaways have been defending the cities from minor villains. She is also wanted by Iron Man and the Avengers. If they get to her first then we stand no chance."

"The girl has more enemies than she thinks." A newcomer stood at the door: a tall, lanky man who was hiding his robes under an overcoat. "It seems like the whole city has turned against her. Her little gang too."

"Headwizard Kenyon, glad you could join us," said the leader.

"I'm sorry for being late. The-- what is it they are called in that children's book—the _muggles_ were drooling over a new politician." He walked casually to the table and took the last open seat. "He wants to flush out the girl as much as we do; for different reasons of course."

"We are not to reveal ourselves to any local authorities. One slipup and you'll be demoted to Magi faster than—"

"Touchy, touchy. Don't worry, Headwitch, this isn't going to be a repeat of five years ago. There's no Pride to hand us our asses as the Americans say."

"Getting back to the subject at hand," said another member, "We are having difficulty finding her exact location (I suspect the Witchbreaker) but I have compiled a list of all the Pride's known homes and lairs throughout Los Angeles."

"So it's a stakeout then," said the Headwitch. "Let the hunt begin."

* * *

It's my first fanfic. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why didn't we think of this before?" said Chase.

"Don't get cocky," said Nico. "This house is plastered with 'Do Not Enter' signs. The bank is auctioning it off next week."

"Pfft, they'll never sell it in this market."

"They're not selling it; they're auctioning off the land to investors. You know, like E-bay."

"Yeah yeah, this painting is artsy, right? I bet some dupe on E-bay will pay at least thirty bucks."

"Hey, my mom loved that," protested Molly, running down the stairs with a piggy bank in hand. "You're not taking it."

"No offense to your mom, Mol," began Karolina, "but she's, well, dead."

"But this was my home." Molly jumped down the rest of the stairs and accosted Chase. "We're not supposed to be burglars."

"Actually, yeah," said Victor, "We kind of are." Karolina quickly nudged him in shoulder. Chase let go of the painting and everyone went back to searching. "We haven't found much."

"I guess evil mutants don't keep the kind of stuff that wizards and mad scientists do," said Nico. As the team kept rummaging she was distracted by a shadow outside the sliding glass door. She saw the moonlight reflected in the swimming pool… was that a person standing at its edge?

"It's so sad," said Klara, rubbing the leaves of a wilted Peace Lily. "No one's been tending these plants." She caused its leaves to soften and turn a vivid green. As one leaf grew and stretched to all sides, a small, leatherly creature hopped onto it. _Croooak_. "Eeeeay," cried Klara.

Karolina lit up like a light bulb. Victor sprayed static and Molly's eyes lit red. Chase drew his switch blade.

"No, it's alright," said Klara. "It's just a frog. It startled me." _Crooak_.

"It's a toad actually," said Karolina, "I've been seeing a lot of them lately. Just a few days ago in Nico's purse… hey, where is Nico?"

* * *

This pool. This was where she fished out, and then knocked out, Karolina's mom after Molly pushed the woman in. Nico walked a little more and looked towards the end of the driveway. That was where she and Alex first…

Sheesh, why was she so nostalgic all of a sudden? It had been months since this had happened, and during that time she had fought giant monsters, traveled back in time, lost Gertrude, started and ended a relationship with Victor. She wondered what her old teachers and high school friends thought when they found out her parents were part of a superpowered mafia.

_"…all I ever think about is death. When my mom jammed that staff-thing into my chest, all I could think was… I'm surprised I even lived _this_ long."_

Both Gert and Alex were dead. Heroes like Spider-man had fought and survived so many battles that they never took threats to their lives seriously. But we don't have that advantage, Nico thought. Maybe we should quit this whole heroing business, before someone else…

"Gets hurt?"

Nico spun and saw a man at least six feet tall in a dark robe standing uncomfortably close.

"Forgive me," he said. "I'm a bit of an eavesdropper; why pay a penny for a young woman's thoughts?"

Her staff wasn't even out. She instinctively searched her pockets for a small blade or sharp edge to…

"You don't need it."

"Back off. When my friends get here they'll…"

"I mean to call your friends. You're a powerful witch, Nico Minoru. It's in your blood; you don't need a staff to cast a simple cry for help." She stared at him cautiously. "Go on, try it."

She looked around. No one else was nearby, and the man wasn't armed in any way. What was his game? A voice in her head said "help" and she thought "Cry for help. Cast a spell for help." Her mouth opened and she said, "Si… _Siren!_" _WOOOH-WOOOH-WOOOH-WOOOOH_. A flashing, red police siren manifested over Nico's head. The rest of the runaways burst outside. The man had disappeared.

"Nico," cried Karolina, "Nico, are you alright?"

"No," Nico screamed, drowned out by the noise. "I have a siren over my head and I'm seeing people who aren't there."

"We've got more problems than that," said Victor. The noise had alerted a police car, which was pulling up the driveway.

* * *

"Helicopters?" said Chase, "Why are there helicopters?" He pushed forward on the wheel for the leapfrog. They sped away through the LA skies with three police helicopters giving chase.

"Nico, turn off the alarm thingy," said Molly, who was covering her ears along with half the team. The siren was still loud as ever, now making pronounced _BLUUUU-OOP BLUUUU-OOP_s.

"I can't," said Nico. She tried grabbing the siren to demonstrate; her hand went right through.

"Just magic it away," said Victor.

"Usually my spells run out when the staff runs out of energy, but I cast this one without the staff. I don't know how to stop it."

"So shouldn't you be able to uncast it without the staff."

"Magic isn't so logical, robot-boy."

"Why would anyone invent such a device?" cried Klara.

"Well it's hard to shake these guys with that thing blasting," yelled Chase. "Leapfrog, go cloak."

"_Affirmative, master_." The leapfrog turned invisible, and chase turned a sharp right. The helicopters followed suit, however.

"What the hell! Why haven't we lost them?"

"_Master, I am detecting the use of radar imaging. While I am able to cloak, I was not equipped with stealth technology._"

"I bet you don't know how to turn off that siren, either?" It was now making a _BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP _noise.

"_Negative. The spell is likely being unconsciously maintained. A large distraction should force Nico to end it._"

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" said Victor.

"_You did not ask_."

"So we need a distraction? I can blast her with my energy beam," suggested Karolina.

"I can punch her," said Molly.

"Could you guys choose something that doesn't hurt me?"

"Nico, go stand near the exit hatch," said Chase.

"Why?"

"Just do it." She smirked but obeyed. "Lean forward on the door, okay." She did so.

"If you're going to look up my skirt or something sick like that…"

"Say 'Geronimo'." Chase slammed a button and the hatch opened; Nico fell into the open sky.

* * *

Headwizard Kenyon stroked his toad. He never understood the Guild's overreliance on toads. Sure, ravens gave away top secret information to anyone who asked but they at least were fun to talk to on long trips. And while all cats had a superiority complex they were good at getting close to the enemy. Toads just told you what you needed to know and then went to sleep. Boring, warty little things.

His thoughts turned to the girl. She has potential, he thought, too much potential for the Guild to kill her as some of the more bloodthirsty members wanted. The question was how to make her useful, to both the Guild and to himself. It would not be difficult: she did not display the slightest resistance when he read her mind.

He smiled to himself. The minds of teenagers were filled with all sorts of strange ideas, ideas about right and wrong, boys and girls, gain and loss. They were very fun to read, very easy to manipulate. This particular girl has lost much of her life in a very short period of time, and her emotional state was constantly on the edge of chaos as a result. As anyone with mentalist powers knew, the easiest way to control someone was not by suggestion or thought, but through emotion.

The last Minoru… he wondered how much the girl knew about her heritage, how much suffering her family had caused over the centuries, the way they turned the Dark Arts into a frighteningly efficient science for getting what they wanted, all without revealing themselves to the larger world. If they had chosen to work with the Guild Arcana, rather than against it, who knows what sort of damage could have been committed? Of course, not all Minorus followed their family's footsteps. Judging from the girl's recent escapades, the more she found out about her family the less she would want anything to do with them. That is why he would have to appeal to another factor when confronting her, and he had just the idea what…

* * *

"AAAEEEEEEEY! I'll kill you Chase!" Nico yelled as she plunged through the air. Her heart was pounding and it suddenly became hard to breathe. The blocks of buildings below were getting closer and closer.

Concentrate, Nico, she told herself. The Witchbreaker gave you the power to fly. Concentrate. She began slowing down. The rushing winds abated and the city stopped speeding upward so dangerously fast. In less than a minute she was floating on air, albeit hyperventilating and clutching her chest.

"Nico," cried Karolina, who was flying towards her fast. "Nico, are you alright?"

"Do I…" _Breathe. Breathe._ "…Look alright?"

"Well," Karolina stopped a few feet short of Nico, "At least the siren is gone."

"Oh, the siren is gone! Tidings of joy. The heavens open and angels sing. People look up in hope and see _a girl falling to her death!_"

"Look, what Chase did was spur of the moment. I came right away to get you, but we all remembered that when you got the Witchbreaker's staff you learned how to fly. So when we get back, try going easy on—"

"Go easy on him? I'm going to rip his heart out and sacrifice his spleen! I've had it with him. And I've had it with Molly, and Victor, and even you."

"Whoa, slow down Nic," Karolina gave her friend some time to breathe and calm down. Nico was in a terrible temper, raging and crying. The two girls had grown up together and Karolina knew that Nico did not break down like this unless a lot of sh!t had happened. Whenever Nico got sad she would usually go do make clothes or one of her other hobbies. Karolina was always the one more prone to crying. The alien remembered a time in middle school when she hid in a bathroom for hours because a boy she liked had teased her in public. Those types of problems seemed so far away now. "Chase is a jerk, alright, but the rest of us know you've been under a lot of stress, trying to hold the team together."

"Sometimes I wonder if there is a team to hold together." Nico wiped her eyes, crying. "Why are we together anyway? Because of our parents? Because Alex said we had to atone for what they did? Some days I wake up and I think, I dream I'm back in my old room. Sometimes I wish… I just wish."

"I know, I know." Karolina hugged Nico. Her rainbow-lit body radiated a warmth which relaxed and comforted her crying friend. "It's hard for all of us. You know I love ya, right?"

_Sniff._ "I know." _Sniff._ "I'm sorry. I know you're going through a lot too, with Xavin gone and all. You're not the one I was planning to blow up in front of."

"It's okay." They continued hugging, drifting like snowflakes over the city of angels. A breeze whipped by and dried away Nico's tears. They continued hugging and circling in midair for several minutes. They heard the distant _thap thap thap _of a helicopter pass by.

"Still chasing us, huh?" Karolina gave a wicked grin. "What do you say we show those cops who they're messing with?"

"My dear," smiled Nico, "I never thought you'd ask."


	3. Chapter 3

This took me longer to write than I thought. School work catches up to you, even in college

Anyway, to answer a few questions I've gotten about this fic, it takes place after Runways 3 issue 6, the most recent when I began writing, so right after Xavin leaves. That also explains why Xavin isn't in this fic. I was planning on updating once a week, but life may prevent me from doing so (as it did this week).

Please review, even if it's negative. In fact, I am looking for constructive criticism, so even if you hate it, tell me why. If you love it, tell me too. Come on people.

* * *

The helicopter pilot kept his eyes glued to the radar screen. He had been ordered to follow the jump frog or whatever it was called; as a man of simple thoughts he preferred flying robot thingy. The vehicle has turned invisible, to his surprise, but his radar was still able to pick it up. Though, if the leapfrog had not cloaked, he would not have been watching the radar screen so dedicatedly, and if he were not so focused on the radar screen, he may have seen the radiant Karolina flying outside his right window.

"Excuse me," said a faint voice. He could barely hear it. "Over here." He turned his head to see the alien right outside. "You're going to have to land now. Please hold on to something."

A bright blast filled his eyes. Karolina had fired as his rudder. The pilot lost control as his vehicle began swerving in all directions.

Nico meanwhile flew up right in front of another helicopter, staff in hand. Its pilot cursed as he tried to steer away. Nico aimed her staff and yelled "_Run in Place_." The helicopter immediately stopped moving forward. Its rotor blades were still turning, but not matter how hard the pilot tried he couldn't move. That should give us a head start, Nico thought. The spell would only last a few minutes.

Karolina meanwhile was holding the gliding helicopter by its underside, gliding it to safety. She flew it towards a clearing on top of a hill. Once near the ground, she left, and Nico whispered "_Engine Stall_." The copter ceased to work and collapsed a couple yards onto the ground.

The third copter appeared to have chickened out; it was flying in another direction. Karolina rejoined Nico in the air.

"Go team! If we keep this up I may have to call myself Lucy in the Sky again."

"I'll become the Witch of the West before that happens. Do you know which way is home?"

The two looked around the sprawling city beneath them. "Uh… We better find a map."

* * *

The next morning, Blaine was resting in his campaign headquarters, sipping black coffee and checking his twitter. The phone rang.

"Jane, could you get that." _Riiiiing_. "Jane?" _Riiiiing_. He remembered that he had sent his secretary to get a copy of the LA Times. Lazily, he picked up the phone himself.

"Hallo?"

"Blaine, have you seen the papers?" It was Warren Kerlikowske, the police chief. He sounded anxious. The two only knew each other out of formality (they would have to work together after Blaine won the election after all); he could only be calling due to official business.

"Jane's, eh, it hasn't arrived yet. Why? What's happened?"

"It's about those runaways, the Pride's kids. We had troubled with them last night."

"Tell me about it."

"I'm tempted to let you see the headline. One of my men on patrol was alerted by this loud alarm that woke up a whole neighborhood. He found the Pride's kids raiding one of their family's old homes. Now, everyone from Iron Man to Bill O'Reilly wants these kids caught, so we sent a couple 'copters to follow their ship."

"Hang on, Warren, why are you telling me this? I'm not the mayor yet; election's over a week from now."

"Blaine, I was at your speech. I heard you promise to clean these kids up, and I'm willing to give you my full cooperation. Everyone knows the mayor isn't going to be reelected; you've got too much of a lead in the polls. He's nothing but a lame duck. As far as I'm concerned, you are LA's mayor."

Blaine couldn't help but smile at this news. His brief episode of egomania was interrupted by the return of Jane. She threw the LA Times on his desk. He quickly flipped through the pages.

METAHUMANS TAKE THE SKIES

DAMAGE TWO POLICE CHOPPERS IN MIDNIGHT BATTLE

"I got the paper," he said. "Not very flattering for your department."

"It's an outright embarrassment, that's what it is." Now the police chief's throaty voice was getting angry. "And the last thing my department needs is embarrassments. After the Pride crackdown, people lost faith in the LAPD. 'They were doing it all under your noses,' they said, 'all that corruption and you didn't even notice.' I've spent a lot of time and money trying to get that faith restored, especially in light of the recent crime wave. But we just don't have enough resources; it's just too much to control. And now even our so-called 'heroes' are attacking us."

"It says here the pilots were alright. No one was hurt."

"Blaine, none of that matters. What matters is that the media is going to spin this into another story about police incompetence. That's when I got this idea. Are you listening?"

"Closely."

"I figure the kids are hanging around their 'rents' old homes. We have on file all the locations privately owned by the Pride families: the Steins, the Wilders, and so forth. What I need from you is permission for a full crackdown on these places. We'll confiscate everything unusual we find, including the kids."

"But you need the mayor's permission for that."

"Blaine, I told you, as far as I'm concerned, you are the mayor. The press won't know about this until after you're elected. I've already sent a runner to your office with a warrant for you to sign. Lie about the date. We can solve this whole meta-human problem by tonight. Is it a deal?"

Michael Blaine leaned back in his leather chair. "Deal."

* * *

"Nico? Where are you going?"

"Oh, hey Karolina. I thought you were still asleep." Nico stood at the front door of their Malibu hideaway fully dressed in a Goth schoolgirl outfit with a backpack slung over one shoulder. Karolina, still in her pajamas, rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Chase is driving me over to my old home in exchange for last night."

"Why? You have a gothic build-a-bear you want to pick up?"

"Ha, nothing like that." She sighed and rubbed her neck as she tried to find words to say. "To tell you the truth, I've been really worried about my magic lately. I'm running out of spells to cast, and after what happened last night, I began to wonder just how far my powers could go. I got the Staff of One by accident, you know, but maybe my parents left something for me, kind of like they left that note for you and Old Lace for Gert."

"Old Lace!" remembered Karolina. "We left her here last night and no one checked on her when we came back. Did…"

"She's fine. Me and Chase checked on her this morning. I think… I think she's been hunting seagulls. I should buy her some steaks while we're out. Anyway, I thought if I went home I'd find something I could use."

"Like what, a crystal ball?"

"Who knows?" A car horn beeped twice from the driveway. "That's Chase waiting for me. I'll see ya later, K. Keep an eye on Molly and Klara, alright?"

Nico ran to the Steins' minivan and they quickly drove off. They passed by a neighbor's home where there was a policeman asking some questions…

* * *

Nico opened the vanity mirror and began messing with her hair. Chase laughed. "Are you expecting a gentleman caller when you get home?"

"Shut up and drive safe; we don't want to be pulled over when neither of us have a license. I just woke up and my hair is sticking out everywhere."

"Maybe you should wear it down, like Karolina," Chase suggested as he made a right off the highway. "'Course it's a bit shorter, but I think it'll look good."

"Nah. To keep the whole goth look I'd have to wear my hair over one eye. I'm fine with my ponytail of doom."

"Yeah, but it makes you so hot that the windows are fogging up."

"Sweet talking me won't make up for last night, so don't bother."

"How about I take you out to lunch then?"

"We're having lunch with the team."

"Dinner?"

She slowly cocked her head towards him and raised an eyebrow. Chase kept his eyes on the road. "Am I imagining things or are you asking me out?"

"Well… yes."

Nico twisted her face in frustration. "Ug, Chase I don't need your jokes."

"It's not a joke! Look, I figured that… dammit, how do I explain? It's been a while since Gert died and I figured… I figured the best way to let her go was to get back into dating."

"And you chose me?"

"I have a list. You moved to the top after last night. I noticed that you've been isolating yourself lately, and you're under a lot of stress. I thought a date might take your mind off things."

"While I'm flattered that you care, I don't think dating you is the solution. No offense."

"Really? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you kissed me once in New York."

"That was different. I… things were happening. God, how long 'til we get there?"

* * *

"It's just one date, Nico. If we don't like each other, we can stop."

The two had arrived at the Minoru's home. Like the Hayes', it had a both a realtor's bandit sign and a "Do Not Trespass" message hanging near the mailbox. Nico had debated wasting an unlock spell before Chase revealed that he knew a thing or two about lockpicking. The two had silently walked to the basement, where Nico hoped they would find some entrance to a secret lair, or at least storage. The two were now fumbling around, looking for some sort of switch, button, or crystal ball. So far, they had rummaged through unhinged paintings, dolls from Nico's childhood, a broken pool table, two computers from the 1980s, moth-eaten clothing, and lots and lots of books.

"I live with you, Chase, I know you well enough already. Besides, every time two of us pair up, something bad happens." After searching the lower walls for a bit, she stood up straight and stretched her arms upward. "Maybe we need to be looking for something else. Something magical."

"What about all these books? Maybe one's a spellbook or something."

"I haven't seen any; besides, I can't imagine searching through all these. Atlas Shrugged, The Fall of Rome, Mere Christianity—ugh, I can't believe they had books on religion here. I mean, they took me to church all my life only for me to find out… fricking hypocrites." She threw the book across the room. It was caught by a man dressed in red robes.

"To quote the Greeks, it is the mark of an educated man to study ideas without accepting them."

"Whoa," said Chase, "How did you get here?"

"I'm just glad someone besides me sees him this time," said Nico. "This is the guy from last night."

"I mean you no harm," the headwizard Kenyon said, holding up his hands in a peaceful manner. "I'm afraid that if you're looking for anything of value, you're too late. The Guild Arcana cleaned out every magic item we could find."

"The who?" said Chase. "Nico, who is this guy?" She was almost sure it was the man from last night, but she hadn't gotten a good chance to memorize his features in the dark. He was a rather tall but well-built man whose hair reached to his shoulders. He wore a seamless robe decorated with unfamiliar, oriental symbols. His face was squarish with dark wrinkles and sunken eyes; the kind of face ideal for intimidating looks, which he used to great effect.

"I have no idea." Nico then whispered, "Hand me your switchblade."

"Again, that isn't necessary," Kenyon said. "I… the Guild has a deal to offer you."

"I don't trust this guy, Nic," said Chase. He had given her the blade and now had his fists up.

"The Staff of One is powerful," Kenyon continued. "And much more so is the Witchbreaker's Staff, but there's one spell you couldn't perform. You couldn't bring your boyfriend back to life."

"How do you know that? Who are you?" She cut herself and the staff appeared.

"I know a lot about you," Kenyon continued as he plucked more thoughts from her mind. "I know your dreams, your frustrations; I know what you would give for the power to resurrect one of your dead friends."

"Don't be fooled, Nic," said Chase.

"Don't worry," Nico replied. "Adults are always lying to us. Besides, I've already used up the spell." She rubbed her staff. "One use."

"That too can be fixed," Kenyon continued. He expanded the use of his powers, planting an image in her mind. "Imagine Alex, reformed, holding your hand…"

"You obviously haven't done your research, pal," yelled Chase, pulsing with anger. "Suppose you could give Nico the power of resurrection, there's no way she would bring back that traitor Alex over Gert. So stop your crap. Come on, Nico, if there's no magic then there's no reason for us to be here."

Kenyon laughed. "You are the one who is misinformed Mr. Stein. I can read her surface thoughts, and I can certainly tell you that she wishes Alex back more than your Gertrude."

"That's… that's not true," cried Nico. "Shut up. You know nothing about me. Gert was more of a friend to me than Alex ever was. And just to prove you're lying—_Detect_ _Magic_!"

A pulse seemed to emanate from Nico's staff to the walls of the room. Kenyon shook his head. "I told you, girl, there's—" He stopped short. A light was shining from under a pile of books. Chase quickly unearthed a glowing tome with a rough, unlabeled binding and old, frayed pages. "Impossible," the wizard continued. "Robert Minoru's spellbook. We took the house apart trying to find it."

"Who's down there?" The three of them looked upwards in surprise. Policemen were searching the floor above them.


	4. Chapter 4

Yes, I know, long time since an update, I've been busy with schoolwork and such. Hence, this part is a bit shorter. Enjoy.

* * *

Knock knock knock.

"Who could that be?" said Karolina. "Not the neighbors, I hope. Have you guys blown anything up lately?"

"Not me," said Molly, who was furiously playing videogames with Klara. And losing. "Not fair. You're camping."

"I'm hiding."

"But I can't get near you when you're hiding."

"Let her hide, Molly. It's what we're best at," said Victor as he cracked open a can of coke.

"Guys," said Karolina, "the door."

"I'll get it," said Victor. "Maybe one of the neighbors saw Old Lace. I'll make something up." Victor promptly left the living room. Molly kept grimacing and smashing buttons furiously.

"Hiding it wrong, if you ask me," she said. "We should be out there stopping bad guys."

"Molly, we've been over this," said Karolina. "We have to wait until things cool down. We can't risk getting caught."

"Spider-man fights baddies all the time, even though the newspapers hate him."

"That's just the Daily Bugle, dear. And Spider-man is… different."

"He has a costume," exclaimed Molly, having given up against Klara. "We should totally have those. I designed you one, K. All we need is a bathing suit and glitter."

Karolina raised an eyebrow. "Ayyyye think I'll pass."

* * *

"Give me the book." Kenyon advanced towards the two. Nico clutched the spellbook tightly and Chase hastily put his fists up.

"Touch her and I'll knock you back to Warthogs."

"Hogwarts," corrected Nico.

"Whatever. It sounded more badass in my head."

"A man doesn't fight well when he's _caught the flu_." Kenyon waved his hand and Chase's face turned pale. He leaned over and vomited.

"Chase! _Get well_."

"You're still casting spells only once, aren't you my dear? Besides, I'm the stronger magician." Kenyon again waved his hand. Chase frowned.

"Not aga… _splaaaah_."

Policemen were coming down the stairs. Nico grabbed Chase and hurried behind a nearby couch.

Kenyon put up his hands. "It's all right officers."

Blam! Nico and Chase heard a gunshot. Nico listened closely. Was he…

"He's gone," said a policeman in surprise. "Just disappeared.

"There were more here. Search the place."

"Nico…" cried a weakened Chase.

"I'll have to try something else. _Vaccination_." Slowly, Chase's breathing became more regular and his skin less pale. But Nico didn't have time to wait; she had to quickly think of a spell to get them out of there. They couldn't teleport because she has used that before.

"I'll found the—"

Out of panic, Nico threw the spellbook at the policeman.

"Invisible," said Chase. "Make us invisible."

"_Invisible_," repeated Nico. The two of them vanished.

"They disappeared too!" cried the policeman. "And what the heck is this book? It looks like it's bound in animal skin?"

"That's no animal. That's human skin, man," said another.

"Are you serious?" The man holding the book dropped it like it was on fire. "This is one of the weird things they wanted us to bring in, isn't it?"

"Enough talk, the trespassers have to be around somewhere. Search the place."

Nico and Chase tiptoed away, up the stairs, and out the door.

* * *

"You're going to get us killed."

Chase was driving rather recklessly. He was swerving between lanes and almost went onto the sidewalk every time he made a right turn. Both were still in a panic over the cops showing up. Finally, a red light forced him to stop.

"Look," Chase said as they were parked at the intersection, "Let's just calm down."

"You're the one driving."

"You're the one who freaked out and threw away that book."

"I stopped us from getting shot, didn't I?"

Chase had no response. They both sighed until the light turned green. "Here," said Chase, "Let me turn on some music." He reached for the radio but Nico grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"We need to talk about this," she said. "Why were the police at my house?"

"I don't know. Maybe a neighbor saw us or something."

"Maybe. I don't know, it could be worse." Nico closed her eyes, thinking intensively. "We should move. Find a new hideout."

"What? Come on, boss, you're overreacting."

"Trust me, it's in my gut. Something is wrong."

"You're just saying that because one of your 'rents' old Wicca friends from high school showed up. We'll head home and discuss it with the team. Cheer up, boss, everything's going to be fine."

Nico nodded slightly. "I hope you're right."

* * *

"The spellbook is in the hands of the authorities." Headwizard Kenyon had arranged an emergency meeting of the Guild immediately after the incident at the Minoru house. So far, only three of his comrades had shown up. The Headwitch contorted her already heavily wrinkled face. She wasn't happy.

"It's no big deal," said another wizard. "I doubt it contained any magic we don't already know."

"The spellbook is more than that," replied a chubby witch to his left. "It is a diary of the Minoru clan. It contains their secrets and their history, and it is worth plenty of gold on the black magic market."

"I agree with Gilda," said the Headwitch. "The spellbook is too important for us to lose. We'll have to take it from them as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, this has happened at an inopportune time; my masters have called me back to our headquarters in Beijing. Headwizard Kenyon, I leave you in charge while I am gone. Retrieve the spellbook. As for the girl, we are not here to play silly games. If she will not join us, kill her."

"Understood, mistress," said Kenyon. He made a quick bow, but inward he was smiling. Silly games were his specialty.

* * *

"Place seems rather quiet," said Chase as he drove up the driveway.

"That's good," said Nico. "It means we're not making trouble for once." She adjusted her hair and stepped out of the car. "Some lunch is what I need."

"Nico," called Chase. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"If this is another date offer—"

"Why did Spookum back there say you'd rather bring back Alex than Gert?"

Nico stopped but kept her face hidden. "I… that was just him playing games with us."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"It's like I said, Gert was more of a friend than Alex ever was. But… but when I think of Alex these emotions just well up in throat." She gulped and took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Lately I keep having dreams about him, about the time we first kissed, about the times we hung out when we were younger. For some reason, I just can't believe what happened to him. For some reason I just… I just can't let go."

"Nico, I know, I feel the same way about Gert," said Chase, "but we get over these things. Alex was a traitor, who was willing to have us and the rest of humanity killed! He doesn't deserve anything from you, and honestly I think you should be ashamed."

Oh, he did not. She turned to face him. "Ashamed, Chase? Ashamed for actually caring? I've been holding this team together ever since he died, while you just monkey around and play with your 'rents' old equipment. What is it with you anyway? First you ask me out and now you're accusing me?"

"If you care so much, why don't you want to bring back Gert?"

"I do! Honestly, if I had the chance I would bring back Gert in a heartbeat, despite my emotions."

Chase still looked unconvinced. "Whatever, let's just go inside."

The two of them, noticeable aggravated and uncomfortable, went into the house. Nico called for Karolina and Chase called for Molly. No one answered.

"Do you think they went out?" asked Nico.

"Let's search the place."

Victor and Klara were also nowhere to be seen. Since the place was usually a mess, it took Nico some time to realize the house was more shambled than usual. Chairs were overturned, plates were on the floor, and even furniture was displaced. The real clue was that the television was broken; Molly would have protected that with her life… oh God.

"Chase," Nico called, "Chase, we have a problem."

Chase came in through the backdoor. Old Lace was with him. "Found her hiding under the sundeck. She seems disturbed. What's happened?"

"I think we were attacked. I mean, look at this place more closely."

"No way. Old Lace here would have any cops for breakfast."

"Are you sure? She doesn't look too well. Maybe she was fighting but then without you she decided to escape."

"Well why didn't she go with everyone else?" asked Chase. "I mean, everyone else escaped, right?"

"Hello," someone called. Nico recognized Klara's voice. "Is someone there? Nico?"

"Klara!" Nico ran towards the door and hugged the girl. She was noticeable scared and crying. "What happened?"

"It was horrible. Victor answered the door and then suddenly all these men dressed in black attack us. There was gas everywhere and… we couldn't breathe and…" Klara quickly devolved into hysterics.

"There there," said Nico, trying to comfort the girl but also determined to get information, "Listen, it's okay, you're safe. Where's everyone now?"

"They took them," she said. "Molly, Victor and Karolina. I'm the only one who got away."


	5. Chapter 5

ITS HERE!!!! Yeah, I had to go on hiatus for a bit due to Finals, but now that those are over Summer's here and I should have more free time (only not since I have a job).

IMPORTANT: I made a slight retcon to last chapter by making it Klara who escaped rather than Karolina. The reason for this was that it fit the story I was planning better and I wanted the opportunity to do a little more with Klara. Enjoy.

* * *

"_Locate_." Nico held the Witchbreaker's Staff high above her head. She strained her eyes closed and focused. Nothing happened.

"Did it work?" asked Klara.

"I must have used this spell already. Maybe I can take us to them. _Teleport_."

"Nico, you…" Chase could not finish before a cloud of smoke burst from the staff. The three of them coughed and waved it away. "You already…_cough…_used that spell."

Nico walked a bit to get away from the smoke. "Well what haven't I used? Any ideas?"

"Maybe if you change your words," suggested Chase. The witch figured it was worth a try.

"_Find. Trace. Reveal. Search. Disclose._"

The staff flashed multiple times, and Nico found herself encased in a pile of gummy bears with paint splashed over her dress, a duck sitting on her head and a raincloud hovering over it all. With a sigh she murmured, "_Clean up,_" at which point all said items disappeared. "Oh, look, something that worked."

"That was neat," said Klara. Nico glared at her. "Eh, I mean, I'm sure we'll think of something."

"Like what?" Dejected, Nico threw herself on the couch. "The more spells I use, the less power I have."

"Well, we have Old Lace," noted Chase. "Maybe she can track them. Where's Molly's hat collection?"

"Try her room." Chase quickly left to search. "Klara," continued Nico, "Can you tell me anymore about what happened? How did you escape?"

"I mostly just ran. They tossed these rocks in through the window and then there was gas everywhere."

"Not rocks, smoke bombs, but go on."

"Everybody was down and coughing. My eyes hurt and it felt like my face was burning." Tear gas, thought Nico. Klara continued, "Old Lace wasn't affected by it but then there were gunshots and she ran away. I sort of followed her. When I couldn't move anymore I grew a vine that pulled me outside to the garden. Oh, and someone kept shouting El-Eh-Me-Dee."

"El-Eh… L.A.P.D.! Well now at least we know where they are."

* * *

Chief Warren Kerlikowske leaned back in his chair and grinned as the three runaways were brought in. The young girl called Molly was desperately trying to break away from the officer behind her, despite the fact that her strength was gone. The chief had properly equipped his men for the capture: the girl had been injected with a serum that temporarily nulled the X-gene. The alien now wore a collar made of the metal that suppressed her powers, and the android had been outfitted with an obscene amount of anti-static bracelets.

"What have we here?" said Kerlikowske. "Some of the runaways that killed their parents."

"We didn't kill our parents," protested Karolina, grimacing at how overweight the police chief was. "They got themselves killed."

He frowned at her impertinence. "Unfortunately, we can't prove that either way," he said. "However, the list of charges against you is still enormous. Property damage, trespassing, heroing without a license, resisting arrest, keeping an exotic pet…"

"I want my phone call," screamed Molly. Kerlikowske smiled. "Hey little girl," he said, "Be nice and I'll hand you over to the X-men, be mean and you'll be here a long time."

"You can't make threats like that," protested Victor.

"Quiet you," the chief snarled. "I'll do what I like, and you'd best not complain. Your barbie friend here is an alien and you're a robot; so as far as I'm concerned you don't have any rights." He addressed the policemen. "Have them interrogated. Find out where their friends are hiding."

Molly stuck out her tongue as the three kids were escorted out of the office. Kerlikowske returned his attention to today's crossword puzzle. He heard the shuffle of his window blinds closing. He looked up but no one was there. Strange, he thought.

"Explain yourself."

The police chief rotated his chair in surprise to see a tall, robed figure. Kenyon had appeared without notice. "Oh, it's just you," he sighed. "Couldn't knock like a normal person?"

"If the Guild knew I had any contact with you at all, I would be burned at the stake. I am lucky that my superior will be out of town for some time. Don't speak, let me finish." Kenyon shushed Kerlikowske's half-open mouth with a spindly finger. "You were not supposed to attack the girl's group. I explicitly stated that you could do what you wish with them _after_ I get the girl. Now you've muddled things up."

"Look you Scottish sorcerer, I've been helping you find that group. Hell, I helped get you all the Minoru's old hideaways, so don't come in here telling me how to do my job. The deal was that if I help you, you help me lead the new Pride, but so far you haven't held your promise." Kerlikowske grimaced. "Every two-bit chain gang in the county is vying for control of LA, from the West Coast Morlocks to the California Witchcraft Community. Your pack of cosplayers is hardly the only power here, let alone the only magic group. It takes a lot of effort to consolidate these criminals, and the sooner I get rid of people I can't control, the better."

"Firstly, I'm Welsh. Secondly, with the magic artifacts I've given you and that puppet of yours, Blaine, about to be elected, I suspect your competition will soon diminish. Thirdly…" Kenyon played with the cuffs of his gloves. "I believe one of your officers has captured a spellbook, one very important to the Guild. Where is it?"

"If we captured anything, then it's probably in the evidence locker. Of course I can't just waltz in and remove stuff."

"If you don't, the Guild will come after it."

"But how is it going to look if you just happen to come across it? They'll put two and two together, don't you think."

"If those idiots… no, you're right. They must suspect neither of our plans." Kenyon paused to think. "How many of those children did you capture?"

"Three. The alien, the robot and the mutant. Why?"

"What are the chances of their friends breaking them out?"

"Next to none. The city outside might be underpoliced, but I run this station tight as a fortress."

Kenyon nodded. "We'll just have to tip the scale in their favor then."

* * *

"What's the plan, boss?" asked Chase.

"Right now, lunch," said Nico as she cut her orange in half. "Did you grow these, Klara?" Klara quietly nodded as she cut her own fruit. "You could be one hell of a gardener."

"So we're still at base 1 then."

"More like we're striking out at home plate." Chase and Klara stared incredulously. "What? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't know baseball metaphors." She sighed as she finished cutting the orange into six perfect slices. "I wish Alex was here."

"Ah! It comes out," shouted Chase.

"I didn't mean… he was a strategic genius, okay?" Nico quickly defended herself. "I was thinking how he would have come up with a plan for this. Of all the talents our team has, smarts isn't one of them."

"Why don't you just summon a bunch of elephants or something and we bust in there? I've got the fistigons back and Klara… well… Klara can recon."

"I'd probably be calling that stupid if I wasn't totally out of ideas. My staff might have a few tricks left in it. I could conjure sleeping gas, or disguise us as cops, or…"

"Disguise us as cops?" exclaimed Chase. "Nico, that's an awesome plan. 'Course it'll have to be more than a uniform since I have a history there. You know, high school parties and all."

"Except it won't work." Chase and Klara flinched at the sudden appearance of Kenyon, with Klara being especially tense. Nico just sighed and drank her milk.

"You again? That would impress me if it wasn't like the eighth time you appeared out of nowhere. Didn't I tell you to get lost this morning?"

"The situation has changed a little," said Kenyon. "The police have both your friends and the Minorus' spellbook. I was hoping we could help each other. Your idea is good but I guarantee you'll miss out on the details. What about ID? What if someone _does _recognize Chase; not everyone is equally susceptible to magical illusions. And once you get in, how will you break your friends out of their holding cell?"

The floors shook suddenly. Klara was making strange motions with her arms. Vines broke from the floor and reached for Kenyon. He tried to step out of their way but they surrounded him and wrapped themselves around his ankles. He wriggled in surprise as more vines sprung from the walls and stretched out his arms.

"Klara," said Nico, "What are you doing?"

"Tell me when they took my friends!" shouted Klara.

"Control that girl," yelled Kenyon as the vines swallowed more of his body. "She's going to crush me."

Chase quickly put on the fistigons and burnt off one of the largest vines. Nico meanwhile started shaking and reassuring Klara. "It's alright Klare, it's alright. We're going to get Molly back, okay?"

The young girl sighed and relaxed the vines. Kenyon nervously wriggled out of them and brushed them off the best he could. "I'm sorry. It's just that when they attacked I… I couldn't help."

"You've done enough," said Nico.

"You know," chimed in Kenyon, "you're a very difficult person to talk to."

"So talk," said Nico. She dragged her chair closer to him. "No one's going anywhere."

"I was _hoping_ for it to be more or less private."

"There two are my lackeys-slash-friends. They'll hear whatever you have to say."

"In that case," Kenyon stepped out of the last of the vines, "I'll start with some history."

* * *

"If science is the quest to understand the physical laws, magic is the quest to get around those laws. Ever since the first incantation, societies have either exalted magicians as priests or feared and hunted them. Over time, wizards began to develop secret societies to protect themselves while they practiced their arts. One such society was the Guild Arcana, originally a cabal of conquered Druids living in the Roman Empire. The cabal grew and merged with other societies until it reached across continents. Hundreds of years before the telegraph, skilled wizards on opposite ends of the world could communicate through magic, so the Guild was able to maintain chapters beyond political lines, from Rome to Shanghai.

"The Guild, of course, was never lacking in rivals. In the past few centuries, our most dangerous foe has been the Minoru clan. Originally, we mistook them to be a small group of Shinto extremists who occasional dabbled in the Dark Arts. Their influence extended far beyond Japan, however, and they had been influencing political events as early as the Mongol conquest of China.

"They threatened the Guild's interests in Asia, so naturally we fought back, sometimes using their Dark Arts against them. We would not have been so successful if there was not infighting and backstabbing within the clan. All high-ranking membership in the clan had to be familial (as you have no doubt guessed from your last name) so they lacked a large number of highly-skilled wizards. We fought and eventually wiped them out over the centuries; their last great display of power was how they assisted Imperial Japan during the Second World War.

"Even with some of its enemies out of the way, the Guild still does not have the influence it desires. The modern rise of superheroes, along with more powerful magic users such as Doctor Strange, has forced us to remain in hiding. The Guild is always looking for new members, however. I was a brash, young boy when they found me, trying to cast a curse on my teacher for whacking my hands with a ruler. The Guild saw my potential and recruited me. Now they wish to do the same for you, Nico Minoru."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Why do they want me if they hate the Minorus so much?"

"Firstly, you're the only one left. Your parents were the final successors to the clan, making you its only surviving member. Secondly, I can sense that you want nothing to do with your family history, but still want to heighten your magic. The Guild would be perfect teachers for you. Heck, you'd practically be a celebrity, among those who don't want you dead anyway."

"You're telling me I'm the last surviving member of some sort of Japanese Illuminati?" Nico rolled her eyes and expressed disbelief. "It's bad enough being the daughter of two wizards who helped rule LA with an iron fist, but now you're telling me the whole evil wizard thing goes back for generations? Sorry, but I'm distancing myself from this crappy history as much as possible."

"It's your choice, of course," answered Kenyon, "but if I may get back to the matter at hand; the Minorus kept a special spellbook. You dropped it this morning and it fell into the hands of the local police. I'm proposing a deal: I help you free your friends, you help me get the spellbook."

"What's in the spellbook," asked Chase. "Some freaky dark magic stuff?"

"To be honest, I won't fully know until I read it," Kenyon replied. "I imagine it contains all kinds of secrets; about the Minorus, about the Pride, and perhaps even how to perform a resurrection."

Nico perked with interest but controlled herself. She walked up to Kenyon and wagged a finger menacingly. "Pull any tricks and… let's just say I haven't turned anyone into a frog yet. We have a deal."

"Nico, are you sure?" asked Chase.

"With a professional wizard on our side, we might stand a chance at a bloodless rescue. So let's put our heads together and see what we come up with."


	6. Chapter 6

Another long-delayed update :P. Apologies if this piece isn't as edited as much as it should be; apparently summer jobs can be just as time consuming as schoolwork.

* * *

Chase stood hiding behind a telephone pole, waiting for a police car to drive up the street. He turned on the fistigons as it made a left turn and came into view. It took them long enough, he thought, and rolled his eyes as he noticed the cop car did not come to a full stop at the stop sign. With a mere mental image he shot a bolt of fire into the air. Besides distracting the police, this was also the signal to Nico and Klara to go to phase 2.

Lights emitted from Nico's staff and the gray street turned into a gooey mush which trapped the car just like a bug in roach motel. If Klara was doing her job right, the wall of vines along the street's fences would prevent anyone unwanted from viewing the magic. The two police officers desperately tried to keep the car moving, but the wheels just rotated in place in the mud. Kenyon appeared in the car's front view, and with a gesture and a few magic words the police officers fell deep asleep.

"Quickly," the wizard called. Nico and Chase both ran from their hiding places to the car. Nico smiled at their handiwork; for once Plan A had gone well. She had called the police reporting loud noises in one of the local apartments; something minor but still worthy enough to justify a single patrol car. Then all they had to do was wait. The trickiest part was yet to come, though.

"One of them is a woman," noticed Kenyon. "This changes our plans a little. Nico, you and Chase will be the police officers. I'd go as the prisoner."

"'Prisoner' isn't really the right word," said Chase. "More like 'felon' I guess."

"So Klara will still be backup?" asked Nico.

"Yes," said Kenyon, "in case we fail she'll be our best chance at getting us out of there."

"You mean the man-eating plant idea?" said Chase. "Why can't you just teleport us out of there?"

"I used up my teleportation this morning," answered Kenyon. "Spells like that require advanced preparation. Only magical items such as the Staff of One allow such on-the-fly spell use, but they tend to have their limitations." He produced two small flasks out from his robes. "I prefer more raw methods." After a quick spell to unlock the car, Kenyon stole a strand of hair from each of the police officers and dropped it into each flask. "Should be ready soon. Chase, move their bodies."

"A transformation potion?" exclaimed Nico, "like the polyjuice potion from the HP books? You sure JK Rowling isn't a Guild member."

"She's not, but I can tell you that we get a considerable chunk of her income. Now put these handcuffs on me and drink the potion. It's going to take good acting to pull this off."

"Nico." Nico turned in surprise to see Klara watching them. "Can I talk to you… alone?

Nico waved the other two away as she and Klara moved off the street to the sidekick. The young girl was biting her lip and looking very nervous and troubled. "What is it?" said Nico. Klara still could not answer. "Listen, you're a member of the team so you can tell me anything, okay? Is it about Molly?"

"It… it's everything," Klara burst out. She nervously twirled her hair braids and then continued. "You all have been good to me, but I was never told we would be hiding from police, and running from aliens, and this plan of yours… I don't like using my powers to fight."

"Klara," said Nico, "I understand that all this has sort of been thrust upon you, and I promise that after we free our friends, we'll talk all about it."

"Do you really think we'll free them?" asked Klara.

"You bet I do." The grotesque amount o f optimism made Klara smile. Nico patted her on the back and returned to the police car, hoping that it wasn't just optimism.

* * *

"_Errrr. EeeeNeeer._ I can't get it."

"I know, but keep trying, Molly, Your strength has got to return sometime."

Karolina, Victor and Molly were being held in the station jail cell, a rather uniform room with a small window, reinforced door and a lamp swinging overhead. The three knew they were only waiting to be transferred to a more secure prison in a different building, so Karolina was desperately encouraging Molly to pull off the collar that was inhibiting her powers. Molly pulled and pulled in vain, and was giving Karolina quite the sore neck.

"Kay…" panted Molly, "I can't do it. I'm not feeling so good."

"Maybe you can get this anti-static stuff off," said Victor. "It's like superglued on or something."

"I… I don't…" Molly collapsed on the floor, sweating heavily. "I can't do it. This sucks. I bet the Hulk never loses his strength."

"Molly, come help me," said Victor, who was fingering his forearm with his opposite hand. "_Mierda_, this used to be easier." Karolina and Molly gave inquisitive looks, so Victor explained. "I'm trying to open my arm. Ultron designed my nanites to eventually become cells, but until then I still have some gears I can pull out. I just need to find a spot that still opens."

"Like this?" Molly grabbed Victor's wrist and twisted his arm.

"Ow, not so hard." But within a second a compartment door on his arm popped open. Inside were reddish, but still mechanical, tendons which pulled like strings whenever Victor moved his fingers. "Alright, now I have an idea, but we need to try to yank something out."

* * *

"Man, these are huge," said Chase. "You sure the potion doesn't copy breast implants?"

"Oh god," said Nico. "Let's just quit right now. Karolina and the rest can stay in jail for a couple days. Please."

"Your friends are in a temporary holding cell in the police station," said Kenyon. "We have to rescue them before they are moved to a more secure location. It's not my fault that you two drank the wrong potions."

Nico grimaced as she examined her male face in the vanity mirror. She had of course drunk the potion meant for Chase, and vice versa. It was uncomfortable enough to feel it happen, to be changed down to the smallest anatomical details, but to have to strip and put on the male officer's clothes, to hear a deep voice each time she spoke, and to sit next to a definitively female Chase in the cop car was just appalling.

"This is so wrong," cried Nico. "I'm not even eighteen yet. I'm going to be scarred by this."

"It's not that bad," said Chase, who was driving back to the station. "Think of it as an opportunity to better understand the male mind."

"Oh, the transformation doesn't affect the mind all that much," chimed in Kenyon. "Mostly just the face and the nether regions."

"Nobody talk for the rest of this trip," barked Nico.

Within a few minutes, Chase parked the car in the station parking lot. Nico (or rather the male officer that Nico had turned into) led Kenyon out in handcuffs. "Try to look like a crook, okay?"

"Well, I do have a tattoo."

"You know what I mean."

The three walked briskly into the station. Nico constantly bit her lip, hoping not to get noticed. The three hadn't taken into account that they knew nothing about proper police protocol, like where they were supposed to take Kenyon for instance. At least the other two were playing their parts right.

"I want to call my lawyer," protested Kenyon in an aggressive tone.

"Simmer down," replied Chase in his new, high, female voice.

Upon entering, they brought Kenyon to another officer whose face was behind a glass wall. The man gave a quick, curious glace upward before returning to his paperwork. "What's the charge," he asked.

"Arson," replied Nico. "Set fire to someone's yard. Figure we'll keep him here overnight." Was overnight jail the punishment for arson? Nico tried very hard not to sweat. Luckily, the man seemed disinterested. She supposed that this kind of thing was not unusual for him and over time had gotten pretty boring.

He asked for Kenyon's name and jotted down some things. "Johnny's open for fingerprinting downstairs, so you can begin processing him."

"Right," said Chase," Which way is it again?"

"Down the stairs, door on the third left, same as always."

Thankful for their luck, Nico and Chase exchanged uncomfortable grins as they walked Kenyon down. The stairwell was empty so they were able to talk freely.

"That wasn't so bad," said Chase. "So plan A is…"

"Find K, Victor and Molly. Have Klara spring the distraction. Use magic to sneak them out," mechanically answered Nico.

"And plan B?"

"Find K, Victor and Molly. Have Klara spring the distraction. Fight our way out."

"Plan C?" asked Kenyon.

"Try not to die."

"You are a master strategist." They halted when they reached the bottom of the stairwell. "Any ideas on how to find your friends?"

"We could find a map of this place; find the cell blocks," suggested Nico. "Other than that, don't you have some charms prepared?"

Chase rolled his eyes and sighed… Nico refused to even think 'sexily'. "You guys think too much," he said. He exited the stairwell and accosted the first man he met. "Hey, do you know were those metahumans we caught this morning all being held? We're trying to find them."

The man, a nerdy-looking fellow in a white office shirt, was startled but nonetheless answered, "In the interrogation rooms. South end, second floor… why?"

"Just curious," Chase answered, smiling. He met back up with Nico and Kenyon. "See, most people don't wake up on the lookout for a shapeshifter. He's probably seen this girl around the office a few times, so he had no trouble answering my question."

"Oh, Holland." Holland… James Holland, that's who I'm impersonating, Nico realized.

"Yes?"

"How's the wife."

How's the wife? "Uh… good. You know, she's, uh, recovering."

Nerdy-guy nodded, then quickly walked away. It didn't take long for Nico to register. "Does James Holland have a wife?"

"He's on to us," said Kenyon.

Chase dropped and opened a small sports bag he had been carrying; it contained his fistigons. It also held a walkie-talkie with which to communicate to Klara. "We may have to move to plan B, boss."

"What a surprise." Nico hastily took out a knife a cut into her arm. "_When blood is shed, let the staff of one emerge_." Thank God the potion didn't affect this, she thought. The staff popped out of her chest right on cue. "Okay. Let's tear this place apart."

Chase brought the walkie-talkie to his lips. "Klara, begin the distraction."

* * *

It was a quiet day at the office. No major events warranted attention were reported, so most of the cops on duty could just sit back and worry about finishing their arrest quotas before the month ended. Kerlikowske took a big gulp from his French Vanilla Cappuccino and returned to reviewing next year's budget, in which he had concluded a substantial grant from Michael Blaine's soon-to-be administration, when he heard a metallic rattle. He looked around but it had stopped. He returned to his work but the rattle had started again, louder this time. It was coming from an old baseball trophy he kept in his office. He took the time to observe his Cappuccino and found that the liquid shook in sequence with the rattle. The ground was shaking.

"Sir." An officer had burst into his office. Kerlikowske reminded himself to fix that lock. "You're not going to believe this, but there's a giant plant attacking the station."

"A giant… forget the plant," he shouted, much to the officer's surprise. "Find the Metahumans."


	7. FILLER!

So it's been a month without an update. The creative team behind The Last Minoru (consisting of CEOs Me, Myself and I) extends its full apologies to any fans waiting for the next installment, assuming such fans exist.

In the meantime, while I get my life in order so that I can begin finishing this fic, I've decided to give you guys FILLER!!!

But this FILLER!!! requires a short explanation.

Terry Moore recently finished his 9 issue run, and overall it was poorly received by fans. Upon receiving his last issue (Runaways v3 #9) I was so disturbed by how bad it was that I decided to make a parody of it, more specifically a comic remix.

For those of you who don't know what a comic remix is, it's when you use MSPaint or some other program to erase the dialogue in a comic bubble and write in new dialogue yourself. So its the same art, different dialogue. In this case I wrote a script but never got off my butt to actually make the remix... but I kept the script and have decided to post it as part of this FILLER!!!

If you have the issue in question, I suggest you read along so that you understand where the dialgoue is (kinda) meant to be. So without any further to do, enjoy the FILLER!!!

* * *

**Runaways v3 #9, we join our heroes after Nico royally screwed up with her magic and transformed a group of zombies into some kind of zombie giant. Yeah.**

Chase: What the heck is that thing?

Nico: I don't know; all I said was "Zombie Not," which must have sounded like "Zombie Knot" which must have sounded like "zombie monster man."

Chase: Whatever it is, it's no match for my Footsigons! *misses* I need to work on that.

Victor: Why didn't you just use your Fistigons? You know, the ones on your _hands_? *Victor attacks and does no damage*

Chase: Nice job super-fart.

Victor: At least I don't have your aim… or dialogue.

Karolina: Nico, our predictable attacks aren't working. Hit it with one of your dues ex machina spells.

Nico: *zoned out* Man I wish I had some coconut oil. *Oil slashes over zombie monster, causing it to fall apart*

Victor: Wow. Apparently oil is stronger than gravity. Or magic.

Molly: Eww, now we're all wet.

Nico: I'm sorry guys. Its getting harder to handle my magic. Probably something to do with that time I was tortured to make my magic stronger

Karolina: Tortured?!

Nico: Yeah, by my great grandmother. I mean, she said she was my great grandmother.

Karolina: Are you sure?

Nico: Why else would she knock me out, strap me to a spiky board and start whipping me?

Karolina: I don't know, but the fact that you two are related makes it more, not less creepy.

Chase: Guys, we have a problem. We're soaked with oil and need to appear clean in the next scene.

Victor: Really? Well, the streets are deserted so I guess the only solution is to get naked and rob a local Hot Topic.

Nico: I guess you're right

*Next Scene*

Chase: Man, looting while naked is fun.

Nico: It would have been if not for the constant groping.

Karolina: Yeah, sorry about that Nico.

Victor: Fighting some disc jockey with magical powers has to be easier than racist rainbow aliens. Molly, start destroying everything, will ya?

Molly: Kay. *starts thrashing and breaking windows* I'm a superhero!

Lydia: _Raaawwreeruurr_

Karolina: Oh my gosh, that zombie is trying to throw herself out the window.

Chase: Oh yeah, that's Lydia. Before she was a zombie she was hot, but also kind of a bitch. Not out of your league now, am I?

*Lydia tries to jump out. Karolina stops here.*

Karolina: No Lydia, being transformed into an ugly, mindless creature with a desire to eat brains is no reason to kill yourself.

Nico: We sure are lucky we're the only vigilantes in this city. No one's going around shooting zombies with a shotgun.

Victor: No, but there are those musclemen with chainsaws on their guns.

*Off-panel dialogue*

Soldier 1: These zombies don't even spring up from underground, man.

Soldier 2: This is the worst zombie story ever. *cuts up another zombie* Wanna get lunch?

Nico: Well, we don't know where Van is. I guess we have to wait until midnight and then go where he said to meet over the radio. Makes coming here kind of pointless.

All: ....

Victor: …Soooo, anyone got a deck of cards?

*Next scene*

Chase: See Nico, I told you dressing up in brown cloaks was the perfect zombie disguise. They let us right through. Man, zombies are dumb.

Zombie 1: Rawwrara. (Who were those two humans in brown cloaks?)

Zombie 2: Rururrah. (I figured they were the virgin sacrifices. We'll just kill them if they start any trouble.)

Zombies: *start chanting* Wa-ooh-ga-cha-ka-wa-ooh-ga-cha-ka

*Molly is away with Klara*

Molly: You know what we should do! We should totally blow their cover; then they'll have to fight for their lives against a horde of zombies. They'll be sooo made at us, and sorry for ignoring my costume ideas.

Klara: I have no opinion, Molly. I've pretty much done nothing and gotten next to no characterization ever since I joined you team. I just kind of follow you around and smile at everything despite my history of sexual abuse.

Molly: Duh. That's why you're my _sidekick_.

Van: *addressing the zombies* So how was your day? Did you have fun? Did you bring your uncle Val lots of presents?

Victor: Let's take him.

Nico: No, we have to let the villain rail about his evil plan apparently.

Val: So I was talking to my partner the other day and I asked him, how can we turn the Val Pal nation of loyal radio zombies into real zombies that will make me rich?

[Editor's Note: We didn't realize how stupidly egotistical Val's dialogue was until about an hour after printing. We suggest you mentally replace everything he says with Val screaming "STOP THE COPS" to make things move entertaining.

Val: STOP THE COPS! STOP THE COPS! ZOMBIES FIGHT AND STOP THE COPS!

Mother (the fat Mexican guy): But first, the virgin sacrifices. That'll be those two teenagers in brown cloaks in the middle.

Nico: That's where you're mistaken. *Bursts out of cloak and summons a giant eagle* I'm not a virgin!

Chase: Be careful Nico. He's clearly a powerful sorcerer. He saw right through our zombie disguises.

Nico: _Cocoon_. *Val is wrapped in a cocoon and falls over* Huh. That was anticlimactic.

Mother: Oh my god, you're the Minoru girl. I'm Mother.

Nico: Back off or I'll… I'm sorry, your name is what?

Mother: The California Witchcraft Community thought you were dead. I'm the local treasurer. And president. And secretary. Val here was my intern.

Nico: I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?

Mother: *grabs staff* Yoink. I'll be taking that. *Glares at staff* Yes! The powers of the cosmos are at my command!

*Dragon pops out and eats Mother. Goes back into staff*

Nico: … His name was "Mother."

Karolina: Nico, are you okay?

Nico: Karolina, listen to me. Never pick up the Staff of One. Okay? Never.

Karolina: But a bunch of us have picked it up before in previous issues.

Nico: It must only hate Mexicans then. Never let Victor pick up the Staff of One. Okay? Never.

Molly: Look, reversing the evil zombie music turned them all back into humans again.

Cop: What? Zombies don't turn back into humans. And something as simple and clichéd as "reversing the music" would be ridiculous. We came in and slaughtered all the zombies while you distracted their leader.

Molly: Are you hearing me Nico, I saved the day!

Victor: Should we…

Nico: No. She's too innocent.

*scene change*

*Molly and Klara play videogames while Chase wakes up*

Molly: We're superheroes.

Chase: Yup.

*No one says anything. Molly keeps playing.*

Chase: This ending sucks.

Karolina: *breaks out of the page* I'm sorry, but someone has to say this. Did you even read the comics, Terry? First off, we are not just some superhero team, we're runaways doing what is necessary to survive. We worked for the Kingpin for crying outloud. And another thing…

Nico: Uh-oh, what did I tell you about breaking the fourth wall, K.

Karolina: But I can't stand what he's doing to our characters. And I want Xavin back! I get so lonely at night that I have to sneak into Nico's bed and leave before she wakes up.

Nico: Okay, one, creepy, two, this is Moore's last comic.

Karolina: It is? You mean… BKV is coming back?

Nico: Nope. A whole new creative team is going to mess up our characters in different ways

Entire Cast of Runaways: NOOOOOOOOH!


	8. Chapter 7

**Here's the seventh installment. Can't say when I'll have the next one up. The intended length of this fic is supposed to be 12 parts, give or take 2, btw**.

* * *

"Don't worry boss," said Chase as he armed himself with the fistigons, "We're not going to lose another friend."

"You have a plan, all-mighty transgender warrior?"

"Yeah. Beat the cops, free the others. Duh."

Nico gave her deadpan face until a pair of policemen came around the corner. "Halt," they shouted.

"_Good Idea_," Nico stated as the two officers froze in place. "Should wear off in a couple hours. Now how do we get to the interrogation rooms?"

* * *

Karolina, Victor and Molly were startled by the sudden entrance of four police guards. The burly men gave a cursory glance as the three tried to look innocent.

"They're all here," said the guard in front, who was barrel-chested and sounded like he had throat cancer. "Keep the door secure."

Victor hid his arm behind his back, something another guard noticed. "What have you got there?" he asked, before he noticed the cut anti-static bracelets strewn all over the floor.

"This." With a wink and an outstretch of his arms, Victor magnetically pulled the guard's gun out of its holster. Actually, he _tried_ to do that, but those things are better strapped in than movies had led Victor to believe. Luckily, the other guards did not catch on to this and pulled out their weapons once they sensed trouble. Pulling firearms from hands was much easier. Soon three guns lay in the hands of Karolina, Molly and Victor. The guards put their hands up.

"Easy enough," said Karolina. "Now move out. Remember that we're crazy metahumans who killed our parents. You don't know we'll do."

The three left and locked the four guards in the interrogation room. Molly wa-hoooed loudly in triumph.

"Keep it down, Molly," said Victor. "We don't want to let anyone know we've escaped." He turned to Karolina. "Nice job with the intimidating speech."

"Thanks," she said as she finished locking the door. "It's not my style, but it's something I picked up from Xavin. How's your arm doing?"

Victor took a sorrowful look at his mangled left arm. He had pulled out a mechanical tendon and used it to cut off the antistatic bracelets. It had left him unable to move his fingers. "It will repair itself," he said. "I'll just have to take things easy for a while."

"Alright, so we've escaped the cell," said Karolina. "But we have a ways to go and we don't know when Molly's strength will return. Any ideas." The three stared blankly at each other. "What would Nico do?"

* * *

"Where'd you get that staff?"

"I stole it from one of those kids. There are some more down the hallway."

"Where?"

_Thwack!_ Nico struck the guard's head with the Staff of One. He fell to the floor crying as Nico, Chase and Kenyon ran past him.

"Well I don't know what Klara's doing," said Chase, "but we're still fighting a cop every minute."

Loud alarms were going off by now. Klara's plant monster had turned the entire station into a living panic attack. Everyone from police chiefs to secretaries were running left and right through the hallways; the three only bothered fighting when someone tried to halt them.

"Allow me," said Kenyon as another guard appeared. "_Covered with scorpions_." Although no appeared scorpions appeared on the guard, he started scratching and shrieking, "Get them off. Get them off!"

Chase punched the guard as they went past. Nico smirked because she did not think such an act was necessary; Chase was acting way too eager to fight, she thought, but she made a note to talk about it _after_ they rescued Karolina and the others.

"We need a bigger distraction," she said. "_Running Leprechauns." _Five green clouds shaped like, per the spell, leprechauns jumped out of the staff and began sprinting under everyone's legs. "That should keep them busy."

"How?" asked Chase, before he took a moment to see one leprechaun throw a folder of papers off a desk and another unceremoniously slap a female officer's behind. "You sure you didn't summon gremlins instead?"

They reached a locked door at the end of the hallway. "I cast a navigation spell to check where we were going," said Kenyon. "The interrogation rooms are behind here."

"Then we need you to open it," said Nico.

"Sorry, but the evidence lockers are near here. I need to get that spellbook."

"You're not leaving until…" but within an instant, Kenyon was gone. "He… he said he didn't have a teleportation spell!"

"Cover your face, Nico," said Chase in that still annoying sweet female voice as he pulled down his goggles and aimed his fistigons. "Sparks are going to fly.

One the other side of the door, the rest of the runaways were planning something similar.

"I think I can still summon a little bit of energy," said Karolina, "just enough to blow the lock off."

"Alright," said Victor, "try your best."

Karolina concentrated the best she could. A small energy spark emerged from her fingers. Then the door blew up.

_Karooosh!_ Splinters flew everywhere and the three were blown back. Molly did a full backwards summersault as she hit the floor while Karolina and Victor bounced off their backs.

"_Madre de Dios!_" exclaimed Victor, "You didn't have to hit it that hard."

"Oh my god," yelled a male officer. "We hit someone. Victor!"

"Crap, they found us," said Victor, "I'll get their guns."

"No, wait guys, it's us," chimed in a female officer with oddly shaped hands. "Chase and Nico."

"Nico?" asked Karolina, "Is that you?"

"Actually," said the male officer, "that's…" Nico stopped talking, a horrible pain having traveling up from her groin. Molly, not having grasped Nico and Chase's explanation, had taken the opportunity to kick Nico's temporary male form in the balls. In a pain that felt like but somehow seemed infinitely worse than stomach cramps, Nico crouched over and held her belly in pain.

"Molly, stop," said Victor, "It's Chase and Nico."

"For reals?" asked Molly. "They don't look like them."

"You are… so… grounded…" squeaked Nico.

* * *

"Aaah," exclaimed Kerlikowske as Kenyon poofed into his office. "You need to stop doing that."

"Do you have the book?"

"It's right here," Kerlikowske tossed the strangely bound book at Kenyon's feet. Not bothering to bend over, Kenyon merely summoned the book up into his hand. "I'll make sure we leave quickly."

"You better." Kerlikowske was beet red with frustration, "And take that leafy abomination with you." Kenyon smiled as he saw Klara's handiwork outside the window. It was reminiscent of a sunflower but with a black-teethed mouth at the top and several leafy vines that swung like whips and grabbed debris like arms. Klara was making sure it did not actively hurt anyone; but it provided a good distraction as it banged on buildings and policemen kept trying to shoot it down.

Needing to get back to Nico and the others, Kenyon again "poofed" away.

* * *

"I think it's wearing off," said Chase, whose voice was beginning to sound deep again.

"So we consist of two androgynous and three handicapped teammates," said Victor. "Excellent."

"We can still get out of here," said Nico, who still had lingering pains down there. "Although it's getting hard to think of spells. Where the heck is Kenyon?"

"Right here." Kenyon had appeared right behind them. "And look what I've got," he displayed the spellbook. It was certainly old, covered with dust and discolored blotches. Yellowed pages seemed to be falling out, and the binding seemed to be stitched together at points.

"Does that scare bad guys away?" asked Molly.

A group of policemen appeared at the end of the room. They aimed their guns. "Freeze."

"Right, I'm tired of this," said Nico. "_Shortcut_." An oval portal appeared in between them and the policemen. They saw the parking lot outside, where Klara's monster was, through it. "Let's go."

"What, with _that_ thing?" asked Victor, noticing the giant sunflower with teeth.

"It's Klara's," said Nico. "Quickly before they shoot."

The policemen did shoot, but by then the group had gone through the portal. "That's it," said one of them, "I'm done with New York, and I'm done with LA. I'm moving to Texas."

* * *

Klara monitored her monster, controlling where it moved and what it damaged. She was careful not to hurt anyone, but more and more police were approaching it.

Suddenly, a ring of metal touched her head. "Freeze," a gruff voice yelped.

Klara panicked. Sweat glisted everywhere and her heart beat faster. But she was saved by her backup force.

"A dinosaur!" yelled the officer. Old Lace came out from hiding and roared. She pounced and chased the officer away with his hands in the air. Klara wiped her forehead in relief.

"I'm sorry I said you smelled like old laundry," she said. Old Lace just turned his head to the side and starred.

Suddenly an oval circle of light opened up next to her. All five of her friends, and Kenyon, walked out. Nico and Chase had turned back into their old selves, and Nico in particular had trouble walking in clothes that were too big for her.

"I hate my life," she moaned.

"Don't worry," said Kenyon, "It might get better sooner than you think."

* * *

The whole gang, having managed to save their friends, fight off the LAPD, recover an ancient spellbook, and cause obligatory property damage, snuck off to the closest abandoned area they knew, which happened to be Victor's old apartment.

"Sorry if it's crowded," said Victor, "I know it's small. Just be glad the owner hasn't sold it off yet."

"Wow Victor," said Karolina as she noticed all the Marvel hero figurines on the shelfs: Spider-man, Captain America, Wolverine, etc. "You were really into superheroes."

"Well, I guess. That's what I was programmed for."

"How's that arm doing," asked Nico. Victor hung it limply. "Better. It should fix itself… I think."

"Allow me," said Kenyon, "_Repair_." Victor felt a tingly sensation as the ripped tendon regrew itself. Molly, meanwhile, had regained her strength and ripped off the collar inhibiting Karolina's powers. Nico and Chase were back in their old clothes again, and overall morale was high.

Nico took this time to address the group. "Okay, we're all going to stay here for a day or so and rest up, but there are still things we need to be aware of. First off, this is Kenyon. He's a wizard or something. He helped us rescue you guys and has earned my trust." Kenyon did a short bow, while the rest of the team eyed him suspiciously.

"He sure comes in handy," said Victor as he fingered his arm. He seemed to be ruminating about something.

Nico continued, "Our next step is to find a new, more permanent hideout. We may have to use the leapfrog to get out of the city altogether. Also, I know I promised to speak with some of you guys individually, so I'll try to get to that over the next few days. Any questions?"

No one had anything to say. Chase clapped his hands and said, "Well, I got to be a girl for a few hours, so to erase that experience I've decided I'm going to cut my hair shorter than it already is. Until then…" he left the room.

"Me and Klara are going to go play," said Molly.

"Nothing too loud," said Karolina. "We don't want anyone to find us." After the two young girls left, she continued, "I need to sleep. Sapping my powers took a lot out of me. Do you have an extra bed?"

"My mom's," said Victor. "Out the door and to the left."

Karolina nodded sleepily and left. Thus Nico, Kenyon and Victor were the only ones left in the room.

Nico plopped down on Victor's old bed. "Gosh I'm tired. I don't suppose you guys could take a breather?"

"I need to return to the Guild," said Kenyon, "I'll come back later." He left. Victor stayed.

Nico turned to look at him and sighed. "You want your bed, huh? I guess I'll move to the couch." She began to get up.

"Don't bother," said Victor. "I need to talk with you about a few things. Right now if you don't mind."


	9. Chapter 8

Part 8 is up and awaaay. And it's back to school in less than two weeks for me. Enjoy.

Also, please leave reviews, I know that more than one person is reading this. Come on, stroke my ego a little.

* * *

"I need to talk with you about a few things," said Victor. "Right now if you don't mind."

Nico gave another sigh, this one intentionally long. Victor could be frustrating or naive at times, but he was also very practical. He had once described himself as "the sanest person on this team," something not entirely untrue. Nico figured that since they were crashing at his old apartment, the least she could do was hear him out. Although now he had no excuse to kick her out of his bed, she decided.

"Here. Come sit." She pounded the mattress. Victor complied and sat next to Nico, who was still lying down with her eyes closed. "What's going on?"

"It's this Kenny guy."

"Kenyon."

"It's just that for someone with a previous history of paranoia, you're suddenly pretty trusting."

"He helped us rescue you guys." Nico paused before her next sentence. "I mean, I was seriously scared. I was afraid I had lost you guys, like I had lost Alex and Gert."

"Losing someone else would ruin this team," Victor admitted. "Even Old Lace. But I don't trust this guy, Nico. It's something I feel in my gut."

"Your robot gut?"

"Come on, Nic." Victor smiled. "You know how human I am better than anyone else on this team."

"Hardy-ha-ha, tinman." She rolled further away from him. "I trust Kenyon. I didn't say you had too. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

"I'm not dropping this," he said. "I know that you want him to strengthen your magic."

She sat up and looked at him. "And how do you know that?"

"Chase told me. He said Kenyon promised to teach you how to resurrect people."

Nico twisted her face in annoyance. Chase needed to keep his mouth shut. "Yeah, well, so what? Having more magic would be good for the team, wouldn't it? And bringing Gert, or Alex back… what would be wrong with that?"

"I just want you to be careful. You said yourself that you try to find someone to cling to whenever you're stressed, and I'm afraid that now Kenyon is that person. Also, let's not forget that the last person who strengthened your magic was a witch in 1907 who tortured you." Nico had no response other than to nod. She lay down on the pillow again, so Victor continued, "There's something else I'm curious about: why do you care so much about Alex?"

Dammit Chase. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, even if you learn how to resurrect someone, you're going to need a Staff of Two to cast it twice, and why did you consider Alex as well as Gert? I never meet the _hombre_, but the other guys seem to hate him. Apparently he betrayed you guys."

"Damn right," said Nico. "He tried to kill us all."

"Not all," said Victor. "I've heard the story. He wanted to keep you alive, you and your parents. He was in love with you, wasn't he?"

"If you think I still have feelings for him, you're wrong. If he comes back, the first thing I'll do is punch him in the nose. Scratch that, _the balls_, and since I've been a man for a day I know how it feels too."

"Why bring him back just to hit him?" Nico, almost asleep, did not answer. "You do still have feelings for him, although you won't admit it. It's subconscious; he was your first love. He hurt you but you didn't feel like he deserved to die."

This was territory that Nico did not want to explore. She brought up a topic she knew she would later regret. "Funny how you should talk about love and getting hurt, after that redhead you cheated on me with."

Victor momentarily turned pale. When he regained his color he said, "You told me you were okay about that."

"Well sheesh Victor, I admit that I was never really into you but… it still hurt. You just ran off with her without so much as a sorry to me; how do you think I felt when you asked her to come to the future with us? Is chauvinism in your programming?"

"Hey!" said Victor. "This is exactly my problem with you: you're so neurotically defensive about everything."

"I have to be." All hope of ending this conversation by falling asleep was out the window. "We have to be to survive."

"Then don't trust this Kenyon guy. He has bad news written all over him. And bringing back people from the dead, that's dangerous _brujeria _right there."

"Get out, Victor," said Nico briskly. "I'm too tired to argue anymore with you."

Victor got off the bed. "Fine, don't take my advice. And it's too bad you're so prissy, because I was really into you."

He walked out, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him. Prissy, thought Nico, he calls me "prissy". She tried to put her thoughts in order as she watched a Captain America figurine on Victor's wall. Then she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Karolina sighed as she saw the rising sun line touch a bed of flowers at the foot of the apartment building. She wished so much that she could just jump out the window and fly across the clouds, but she knew that the team needed to lay low for a while. Chase yawned as he worked at the computer, trying to find places the team could escape to. So studious, thought Karolina.

"There's the new X-men base in San Francisco," he said. "We fought once. They might let us hang for a while."

"I don't think we should draw attention to them," Karolina answered. "Besides, I don't want to leave LA. This is where we grew up. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to stay here."

"We may be able to. Most of California is under-policed. You want some coffee?"

"I had herbal tea earlier."

"Alright." Chase took a big gulp from his mug and wiped his lips with his sleeve before continuing. "A lot of supers hide from the government. 'Course they have secret identities and stuff."

"Yeah, but… superheroes. That's it." Karolina beamed with rainbow energy as the sun hit the window. She turned and spoke to Chase. "That fat police chief can't defend the city from all the weird stuff that the Pride kept out. We just have to wait for something to happen."

"Yeah?" said Chase. "And how long is it going to take for something to happen?"

"Well, with that robed man and spellbook that Nico got," said Karolina, "I hope it isn't as soon as I think it might be."

* * *

"What the heck is this?" asked Nico as she studied the open spellbook. "I can't understand a thing in here. And even if I could, the letters are all blurred."

"It's an enchanted spellbook," explained Kenyon. "It takes magical perception to read."

The two of them were standing in an open field Kenyon had taken them too. There was not another soul around for miles, which meant lots of room for practice. Nico was wearing a rather drab, grey set of clothes for the occasion; if something weird happened she didn't want another one of her dresses to get ruined.

"Take out the staff," said Kenyon. Nico complied and made a small cut on her arm. When the staff came into her hand, the letters suddenly became legible. "Most of your magic is contained in that staff," Kenyon continued. "It is your strength, but also your limitation. You can only do spells that the staff does on its own. Once you release the magic of your ancestors, the staff will merely be an enhancement to your own power."

"Sounds good," said Nico, "is that where the spellbook comes in?"

"Yes, it contains the secrets of your family's magic. With study, you should greatly increase your powers."

"I don't know. Some of this is still hard to read. Here's something: '_If in the mind a form is made, master an object and the two will trade_.' What does that mean?"

"Try it. Imagine a loaf of bread in your mind, thinking of as many details as possible." Nico did so. "Good. Now place your right hand on this rock, and try to think of it as your own." Nico again did so, and the moment she touched the rock she found her mind immersed in all its features from its color to every jagged edge. But when she looked down she saw not a rock but the bread she had imagined.

"That was a simple transformation spell," said Kenyon. "But I was never in favor of wasting time mastering the basics. Is there anything more advanced in there?"

"I can't tell," said Nico. "A lot of it is still blurred or written in this strange language."

Kenyon looked disappointed. "Maybe you should take some time to study it. I'll take you back to your friends and leave you alone for a bit."

* * *

Nico, who had asked not to be disturbed, was flipping through the pages of the spellbook, making notes on which pages had details that she could read. Feeling frustrated at the material in the front, she skipped to the second half of the book, and was delighted to find that more of this section was readable. But not all of it was about magic.

_The Secret History of Fei-Hua Minoru. I have killed ten men to complete my initiation into the Dark Arts. My grandfather, Jei-Hung Minoru crowns me with family crest as I revel in my new powers. The daimyo of the Satsuma Domain had ordered my family to help suppress a rebellion; it seems that although our "wicked" practices are rebuked in public, in private we are the secret to many military successes._

The more Nico read the more she wanted to put down the book. There was an entry for every ancestor of importance she ever had, describing in pride the horrific things they had done. She flipped and flipped through the pages, all completely legible, descriptions getting more and more unsavory. Finally she slammed the book shut and slid it away from her.

"Why the long face?" someone said. It sounded like her mother's voice. "Don't you want this power?" Nico noticed that the book briefly jumped whenever it spoke. She backed away, but then the book opened up and a face began to rise out of the pages. "I told you before," the face said, which was becoming more and more like her mother's.

"Get away from me!" yelled Nico in fear.

"You will always be a Minoru. If you want our power…" now a full figure was rising, "You will have to become like us. Is that what you want?"

Nico clutched her head down and screamed, "Get awaaaay!"

"Nico!"

* * *

Nico awoke with a start to see Karolina and Molly looking over her. She was lying down on the floor, the spellbook still in her arms.

"You were screaming in your sleep," Karolina said.

"It… it was a nightmare." I must have dozed off, she thought. She got up and calmly tossed the book on the bed. "I need a break. You guys wanna go out to eat?"

"Aren't they looking for us?" asked Molly.

"The police are looking for us Molly, and I doubt they've had time to get a wanted poster in every restaurant in LA."

Molly beamed. "In that case, I want Chinese food."

"Sure thing. Chase has some cash left; it'll be his treat." Old Lace walked into the room, frightening Karolina. Nico smiled. "You stay here, alright?" she said. "And we'll bring you back some General Tso's chicken."

So the runaways all walked to a local Panda Express together. As Karolina and Chase chatted and Molly tried to explain cell phones to Klara, Nico found herself in the uncomfortable position of sitting across from Victor. Luckily he had the decently to break the ice.

"So did everything go okay?"

"So far. I hope it works out." She stirred her uneaten rice with her chopsticks. "I'm sorry I said you were programmed for chauvinism."

"I'm sorry I called you prissy and neurotically defensive."

"Do you even know what prissy means? I looked it up. It means overly prim and proper."

"Sorry. When things get heated words just find their way out of my mouth, and I didn't want to call you bitchy or anything mean like that."

"That's appreciated. You going to eat those snow peas?" Victor shook his head and she grabbed a couple with her chopsticks. Victor, having never learned how to use sticks, was trying to poke through some broccoli with a plastic fork.

"So we're cool then?" he asked.

"Victor, if I couldn't have someone sane like you to rely on, these guys would get us caught in less than a week." She motioned to Chase, who was making Molly laugh by putting straws up his nose. Nico and Victor both smiled.


	10. Chapter 9

Whoot, we're three-fourths of the way done. This part is mostly dialogue... well, a lot of what I write is mostly dialogue but the remaining parts should have more action in them. Have fun?

Oh, and did anyone else read the online preview of issue 13? The one with the kiss?

* * *

Kerlikowske grunted in anger as he read the headlines for that morning. _Police Station Attacked_. _Kerlikowske Cannot Enforce Promises. Ill-Prepared Officers Allow Superhumans to Escape. Citizens Call for Reorganization of Police Force._

Kenyon, he thought. Kenyon tricked me. I wasn't meant to be put into the spotlight.

"Where is he? Don't tell me where I can and can't go; I'm practically mayor."

Michael Blaine slammed the door open. Although much smaller than the police chief, he scared the men much better: beat red in the face and bouncing with energy. Kerlikowske rolled his eyes; he was in no mood for this.

"Well at least I don't have to show you the news," said Blaine as he noticed the newspapers spread across the desk. "Warren, this is a disaster. You said you'd take care of those kids. You were worried about police incompetence, eh? Well now the _whole city and I_ are worried about police incompetence. Not to mention we've still got the warrant I've illegally signed on our hands."

"That's hardly our biggest concern," replied the police chief.

"You're right Warren. My biggest concern is getting elected after my speech where I said the LAPD could handle metacrime. Right now, the only logical thing to do is to promise the voters to throw you out of office the minute I'm elected, assuming the _current mayor_ doesn't do so first."

Actually the current mayor had woken up Kerlikowske early that morning to scream at him, but he realized that replacing an experienced police chief with a rookie one was hardly the solution to this problem. Blaine on the other hand was a loose cannon; Kerlikowske took the threat of losing his job very seriously.

"Unless of course," continued Blaine, "You find a way to solve this problem before voting day."

Kerlikowske was lost for words. How could he fix this problem? The kids could be anywhere, maybe even outside LA, and a demoralized police force could not be expected to stop them. If only that blasted wizard Kenyon hadn't… the gears in the chief's head turned.

"Don't worry Blaine," said Kerlikowske, "I have a perfect target for us to go after to show the public that we're tough on metacrime."

"What? A mutant three-year-old?"

"Nope. What if I told you there was a convent of witches in LA."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. High. "Witches? You can't be serious. We're not going after some Dungeons and Dragons fanatics."

"I mean real witches, Michael," said the chief. "If you were living in New York you wouldn't be surprised. One of the girls we fought was a witch."

"Right. Okay. Witches," replied Blaine evenly. "And where do we find these witches, and on what charge are we filing against them."

"I have a certain informant who has told me much about the Guild Arcana." Kerlikowske gave a self-indulging smile. "We're going to charge them with trying to set up a new Pride, and I may have just the evidence to prove it."

Blaine threw up his hands. "Do what you want, Warren. You have my blessing and all that. Just remember, it's the public you're proving yourself to, not me."

Blaine left as quickly as he came, although in less of a rage. Kerlikowske meanwhile slowly opened his lower right drawer and pulled out a slightly yellowed, handwritten list. It was a list of the Pride's old contacts and "partners," compiled by Kenyon in his attempt to help Kerlikowske start a new Pride. That ship had sailed, thought the police chief, but now with the proper spin this list would make the perfect justification for going after this Guild.

* * *

The whole team, sans Nico, sat around the dining room table as Chase dealt out a pack of playing cards. He then tried to explain the game Capitalism to them, but this was difficult due to distractions, not the least of which was that Old Lace kept trying to bite off Molly's hat.

"You're getting drool on it," Molly said as she pushed the dinosaur away. "This is expensive."

"We got it half-off at a clearance sale," pointed out Karolina.

"She probably hasn't been fed yet," suggested Victor. "Chase, shouldn't you take care of that?"

"I just fed her an hour ago," Chase replied. "I'm not as good at the whole mind-link thing as Gert was, but if I had to make a guess, she's anxious about something."

"About what?" Karolina asked.

"She's worried about Nico," said Klara as looked through her cards. The girl had turned out to be the best card player in the group. "Same as all of us."

"That wizard dude tries anything," said Chase, "he's going to meet the hard points of my fists. The metal ones."

"Do you guys think it's true?" asked Molly. "Can he really help Nico bring Gert back?"

Everyone was silent for a while, "I don't know, Molly," Karolina finally said. "Playing around with the dead… I don't know much about magic, but it just doesn't feel right to me. I'm afraid to tell her, though."

"I still think something's fishy," said Chase. "If magic could bring back the dead, shouldn't people be popping out of graves left and right? Isn't there a wizard out there who's an Elvis fan or who wants to save dead children?"

"I'm no expert in magic either. On the contrary, being Catholic I'm not supposed to practice that stuff," chimed in Victor, "but I've never read a fantasy book where resurrection didn't involve some kind of sacrifice. You know, blood for blood or some kind of pact."

"But before we get into that, we haven't even discussed if we want Gert back yet," said Karolina. "I mean, I loved the girl… don't give me that look, I meant platonically," Chase forced himself out of his dreamy expression, "but I'm not comfortable with reversing what happened. Shouldn't dead people stay dead? What if she comes back different? What if she doesn't want to come back? Does anyone understand what I'm saying?"

"Well _I _want her back," spoke up Molly. "Her conviction surprised everyone else. "I'm sick of being sad every time someone dies or something bad happens. I want something good to happen for once. I can't see why Gert wouldn't want to come back to us because we are _awesome_, and when Chase snogs her he'll be happier and he'll make jokes and we'll be happier and we'll finally feel like a team again. So I want her back." Molly gulped and sulked back into her seat. "That's just… how I feel."

"I know," said Victor, "Let's just take this one issue at a time. I've spoken to Nico, and I'm worried about her safety."

* * *

"Very good," shouted Kenyon above the pounding of the rain around the two. He pulled up his cloak tighter around his neck to avoid getting wet. "Now concentrate on the spell. Change it to…" a strong gust flew by and within a second the pounding splatters had stopped and all the rain had changed into "…snow."

"And now I'm wet _and_ cold," said Nico as she shivered. She stroked the Staff of One and whispered, "_Dry,"_ which removed what was left of the rain from the both of them. "When do we get to the next set?"

"I'm as anxious as you are," said Kenyon, "And I'm pleased that you are progressing so quickly. With the combined powers of our magic, that spellbook and your staff, I'm sure the resurrection should be a success."

" 'Tions. Ressurec_tions_. I'd like to do two, remember?"

"Yes, but we'll have to find a way to get around the staff's primary limitation. Luckily, there may be a way."

"Really?"

"It's called the _iteria magica_, a recharge to your staff that will make it as if no spells were cast. It's like hitting the reset button. Of course, the process is different for every magical object, but the spellbook should contain the necessary information."

"So you're suggesting I cast a resurrection, then hit reset on the staff, then cast resurrection again."

"Correct, although this will require a great amount of arcane resources."

"But you can get those, right?" Kenyon dropped his head, looking very pensive. Nico plucked up her courage and said, "I've thought about your offer, the one we talked about, and in exchange for all you're doing for me, I'm going to give it all to you. The spellbook, the staff, all my magic."

"I can't deny that I'm happy to hear that," he answered, "but I still urge you to think this through. If you give up your magic, all this training will be for waste."

"I'm only doing the training so I can resurrect my friends," Nico stated evenly. "After that, I'm done. I've read the spellbook, and I refuse to follow my family history. After we bring Alex and Gert back, then I'm going to cease to be a Minoru."

Kenyon smiled to himself. He could read the emotions going through this child. He knew this was the decision she would make, the decision she could not help but make. "So be it then. But staff or no staff, you will never truly be free from your heritage as long as magic flows through your veins."

"I'll live with it. That's what our little team is about, besides running from the authorities. We're a support group for kids with an evil heritage."

"Let me finish." Kenyon put his hands on Nico's shoulders. "You said you'd give me all of your magic. When I'm through, you won't have a drop of it left in you."

* * *

"I need you guys to help me."

"Nico," Karolina carefully choose her words, as she was speaking for the whole team, "We've talked about this, and we all need to be on the same page: do you really want to bring back Gert?"

It was approaching dusk outside so the light coming into the apartment was taking a dimmer hue each minute. Nico bowed her head and continued, "It's been about a year since our parents died. Ever since then we've run through all kinds of problems. Mythological giants, time travel, hostile aliens… it's been quite a year. But I don't know how much longer I can take all that, how much longer we can take all that. I want us to be safe, so that no one will have to die again. And what's more, I want to bring Gert back, so she can experience that safety which we all would have had if our parents were what we thought they were. "

"What exactly are you saying, Nico?" asked Victor. "That we should start living normal lives?"

"I don't know if that's possible for us," said Nico. "But at the very least we can stop picking fights with vampires and monsters. If the LAPD wants to protect the city, let them. I just want to promise Gert that she'll never be in danger again."

"And you think Kenyon can bring your friend back?" asked Klara.

"Yes," said Nico. "I trust him to help me."

Klara stood up, walked over to Nico and took her hand. "I don't know anything about magic," she said, "But my mother used to tell me that the devil is in the details. You guys have all treated me like family, so I'll be glad to meet this friend of yours you love so much. But please, be careful. Think about everything this man tells you."

"I will. Thank you, Klara." Then Nico smiled, turned to everyone and said in a triumphant voice, "And if Kenyon tries anything funny, you guys will be there to kick the crap out of him, right? We're not suckers for any adult."

"Yeah!" cheered Molly, "Screw adults. I can beat up half of them."

"Hey now," said Chase, "I'm an adult now."

"Anyway, I need your guys' help," continued Nico. "Here's what I need…"

It took a week to get all the supplies. Karolina carried Klara to the mountains to find special herbs and fungi. Chase and Molly "borrowed" some artifacts from antique shops. Victor had the honorable duty of ordering things off the internet. Nico, meanwhile, was being instructed by Kenyon on magical stuffs he had obtained from the Guild.

Besides collecting materials, the group had to pick a suitable place for the ritual. Nico suggested the desert where they had practiced, but Kenyon shook his head. "It has to be in a high place. Part of the ritual I'm afraid. Either on top of a mountain or a rooftop. The latter would be easier to get to, especially with my resources in the city."

At the end of the week, the team presented the materials to Kenyon. "Hercules ferns, charmed pots from the Orient, alchemic stones, cat's hair, toad's blood… this does quite nicely. It'll take a day to put things together."

"We'll wait," said Chase, "Then we'll watch the ritual together."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Kenyon.


	11. Chapter 10

**Holy wowzers! An update only four days after the previous update! Looking forward to getting this over with, so hopefully the next part should be up pretty quickly too. Should be only two more parts after this one. Enjoy and please review.**

* * *

"Shoot it! Quick!"

_BLAMBLAM. BLAM._ Three police officers shot at the hairless wolf that had been summoned to fight them. One bullet hit between the eyes and the demonic animal, with a sedated roar, collapsed and somersaulted due to its inertia. The policemen hurriedly jumped over the beast as they chased a robed man down an alleyway. The man, sweat dripping from his brow, briefly turned his head to see his pursuers. When he looked forward again, he saw Kerlikowske flanked by two SWAT soldiers.

The man reached into his cloak to draw something, but one of the SWAT men shot him in the leg. He cried of pain mixed with anger as he slowly kneeled to the floor. It was an hour before the sun was meant to set, but for the man things were already getting dark. Kerlikowske's fat silhouette looked over him.

"Where is the Guild? Where are the rest of you hiding?"

The wizard spit at him. "Wait until the headwitch returns," he answered with spite. "She'll flay the skin off of your police force, then turn this entire city into a disaster zone."

"Last warning," said Kerlikowske evenly. The wizard again reached into his robes and pulled out a thin stick, and the SWAT officer dutifully shot him with a burst of three bullets to the chest.

"Get the wand," said the police chief as he turned away. "List it on the records as a deadly weapon he was armed with. And tell Waste Collection to be quick with the body; this won't be the last one they'll have to clean up."

* * *

Morning lights spilled across LA. Looking down from the TCW Tower, at an astonishing 517 feet high, filled Klara with both wonder at the scenery and a paralyzing fear. After taking a few seconds' look, she shakily backed away from the roof's edge.

"Afraid of heights?" asked Molly.

"Afraid of what would happen if I fell from such a height," said Klara.

"Don't worry, I'd catch you," said Karolina, who was joyfully flying around.

"Hey, don't give us away," yelled Chase, who was being forced to polish one of Kenyon's many enchanted pots. "I'm worried enough already that a news helicopter will spot us or something."

"I took that into account," said Kenyon. "We have a collected a powerful amount of magical items. A simply barrier spell should hide us while we complete the ritual." Kenyon finished searching through the herbs, stood upright and took a deep breath. "Everything should be ready."

"Cool," said Nico. She looked around. Everyone had their eyes on either her or Kenyon. "So then… when do we start?"

"This afternoon," he said. "Things need to be put into the correct order. Robot," he pointed to Victor. "Arrange those sacred stones into this pattern I drew, won't you?"

Before Victor did so, he took a moment to whisper to Nico. "There isn't any aspect of the deal you aren't telling us, right? He helps you resurrect Gert and Alex, you give him the spellbook and your staff. Is that is?"

"That's it," answered Nico nonchalantly. She then smiled and stroked Victor's cheek. "Why is everyone so worried? This spell is legit; I've read all about it in the spellbook so I know Kenyon isn't tricking us. We should be happy: Gert's coming back to us."

"But your staff," said Victor.

"I'd give my right arm to reverse Gert's death," Nico answered boldly. "So screw some cursed stick my parents left me."

"Okay," said Victor, "But give the signal, and Molly punches him out of his robes."

Nico sighed. "Do you need help with those stones?" Victor nodded. He then wondered how Kenyon knew he was a robot.

* * *

Police led a handcuffed wizard into a car. Kerlikowske grunted. "Another dead lead. Why won't they tell us anything?" He looked at his watch; it was almost 2 O'clock. They had been chasing stragglers since morning, but had still not found the big hideaway.

The police car began to drive off. Then it stopped in the middle of an intersection. "What the hell's he doing?" asked one officer near the chief, holding a Starbucks coffee. The driver and his partner quickly opened their doors and leaped out of the car, which was turning a hot red. It exploded, causing several nearby cars trying to cross the intersection to crash. Debris flew all over the sidewalks and passersby ran for cover. Kerlikowske, the seeds of fear collecting in his guy, watched the wizard they had caught stand in the middle of the street perfectly fine.

"You picked the wrong witch to capture," he said in the voice of an old woman. The wizard began to change into a woman; long gray hair flowed down her back and a wooden, twice crooked staff grew into her hand. Earrings shaped like a crescent moon adorned her ears and shined with the same brilliance as her sky blue eyes.

"Stay where you are," shouted one policewoman. She and several other officers aimed their guns. But a cloud of smoke had descended behind them, inside of which were several members of the Guild Arcana, fifteen to twenty of them standing in formation.

"You wanted to find some magic?" a witch in their group said. "It's in the air." The smoke seemed to collect into several tiny clouds, which then turned into bees. The bees viciously flew towards the police officers, who started firing at them rather futilely. Kerlikowske, stricken with fear, had already run off to his car and called for backup on the radio. The policemen retreated.

"There will be more of them, headwitch," said the witch who led the group.

"Gather up our remaining members and you will take them easily, Sister Summersale. As for me, I have business to attend to with a certain traitor."

The headwitch tapped her staff on the ground and began to levitate into the air. The wizards, meanwhile, were charging up fireballs into their hands.

* * *

"What the heck is that?"

"You hear it too?"

"It sounds like a battlefield down there."

"Is that… Is that a dragon?"

"The Guild," said Kenyon in a tense tone. "They're fighting someone."

"Yeah," said Chase as he joined the whole group (even Klara) in looking down from the edge of the roof. "Christ, lights are flying all over the place."

"Those would be spells," said Nico. "That police chief, he must have gone after them."

"But if they're fighting in the middle of the streets, people are going to get hurt," said Karolina.

"Kenyon, can't you like, call them off?" asked Nico.

"Call them off? I'm not that high ranking a member, my dear."

"We have to help them," said Molly. "We're superheroes. We can't let them ruin our city."

"I agree," said Victor. "We've got to get down there, and Kenyon's coming with us."

"What?" said Kenyon. "No. We have to complete the ritual. Or else the preparations will expire and we'll have to start all over."

"Listen buddy…"

"Victor!" yelled Nico. "Take the team down in the leapfrog. Fight off those wizards and witches. I'm doing the ritual with Kenyon."

"But Nico…"

"Kenyon's guild may force him to leave after this battle, and we may never get a chance like this again. So you're in charge now, alright? If I'm wrong, feel free to confiscate my black nail polish when this is all over."

"If we're going to go," said Chase, "Now would be a good time."

Victor sighed. "Team motto everybody. _No intentamos morir_."

"What?" asked Chase.

"Try not to die."

Chase, Victor, Molly, and Klara all hopped into the leapfrog, parked conspicuously on the roof. Victor took the pilot seat. Karolina began flying down on her own. The leapfrog had just started hovering by the time she got there and confronted a group of three wizards.

"Stop at once," she said. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"_Stick around," _said one wizard as a pile of gray goo sprayed from his hands. Karolina gracefully dodged it.

"Did… did you just try to shoot sticky goo on me?" The wizards were lost for words. "Gross!" Karolina released a massive energy blast from her hands. The last thing the three wizards saw was a burst of light before they were rendered unconscious. Karolina had trained her abilities with Xavin, and knew how to avoid going lethal.

Meanwhile, back on the rooftop, Kenyon took Nico aside. "It's time we started. I'll set up the barrier." He waved a wand into the air and a dark streak came out of it. When it was thirty or so feet above them, it exploded and spread out radially, becoming a dark dome encompassing the rooftop. "This will make sure the ritual is not disturbed." Nico tightly closed her eyes as she cut her skin with a switchblade. The Staff of One came out, and the sacred stones began to glow.

While down below, the leapfrog had entered a realm of chaos. Police and SWAT vehicles were setting up roadblocks everywhere, and the Guild was out in full force, summoning monsters and casting hexes left and right. Neither side seemed to be distinguishing the civilians either; police were forcefully suppressing passersby and the wizards seemed to be having fun making people run with bats and explosions. Chase squinted at the window and saw police shoot down an ogre before a fireball flew past the window.

"_Master_," it said. "_Sensors detect hostility and high likelihood of damage_."

"Tell us something we don't know," said Victor.

"_Tactical analysis suggests that the best way to abate the violence would be removal of the largest instigator_."

"Largest… do you mean magic? You mean there's a way to stop their magic."

"_No master. By largest instigator I mean the summoned dragon rampaging through the streets_."

"Dragon?"

Out from the side of the TCW Tower appeared a green, scaled, yellow-eyed, fire-breathing… well, basically a dragon. It growled at the leapfrog and took a deep breath.

"We are so dead," said Molly.

* * *

A picture of Gertrude Yorkes lay among other magical items tossed into the center of the circle of stones, all now engraved with a glowing symbol. With pots, herbs, and even small statues spread everywhere, the scene reminded Nico of an archaeological dig. Nico and Kenyon stood at opposite ends of the circle; she held the staff into the air while Kenyon recited the incantation in an unknown language. The translucent dome began to surge with energy; it began to block out light and things became very dark. A flash of lighting came from the top and struck Nico's staff, and suddenly she could understand what Kenyon was saying,

_Open ye dark gates. Open ye abodes of the dead. Release to us whom we ask, and may our offerings keep Death fed. _

A powerful wave spread over Nico, a force that felt like it was crushing her body. She kneeled down under its weight. "Resist it, Nico," screamed Kenyon. "It is the power of death. Command it to bring your friend back. Concentrate like I told you."

Nico concentrated. She stood up and held the staff up high, and thought about Gert. She thought about how much she wanted her friend back, but not just Gert. She also thought about Alex. She wanted death to give both of them up. Bring back my friend, she kept repeating to herself._ Who_, a voice whispered. _Who will you bring back?_ "Bring back Gertrude Yorkes," Nico screamed. She stretched her arms, holding the staff far above her head. "_Resurrection!"_

Kenyon had begun chanting again, a smile trickling across his face. A ball of light appeared in the center of the circle of stones. Nico, free of the powerful wave, noticed for the first time that there was some kind of portal under the ball of light. "What's going on?"

"The resurrection is taking place. The necessary parts are coming from the portal. Your friend is being put together inside the light. When it is done, the portal will close."

"Then we need to resurrect Alex, before the portal closes again. Cast the _iteria magica_."

"I already did." Nico noticed that the Staff of One was no longer in her hands. It was in Kenyon's. "Oh, a little thing I forgot to tell you about. Once the _iteria magica _is cast, the default owner of the staff may change. Since you promised it to me, I took the liberty of taking it."

"Then you'll have to do the next resurrection."

"Rather hasty, aren't you?" he said. "I'm afraid there won't be a second resurrection."

Nico's eyes popped wide open. "What the $%# are you talking about?"

Kenyon gave a long, hearty laugh. "This is why I love working with teenagers. Their emotions are so wild, so malleable." He took notice of Nico's glare. "Don't look so downtrodden, girl. Didn't I tell you I was an empath? I made your little team trust me, and now I have you exactly where I want you."

"You… you controlled us?"

"Oh no, not controlled. Empaths can manipulate emotion, not control them. After saving your friends from the police station, it was easy getting your team to trust me. Victor was a little harder to crack since he's a robot, but even he came around, mostly thanks to your confidence."

"My confidence?" Nico could not believe what she was hearing. "Did you manipulate that into me too?"

"Partially. But you were pretty motivated yourself, and the desire to give up your magic, that was all you. You're very noble, Nico. Part of me wishes you were my daughter. Too bad you have to die."

"So what now?" screamed Nico. "This whole resurrection was a trap?"

"Oh, the resurrection is real. You yourself read the whole procedure in the spellbook. But I'm afraid I ripped out one specific detail: the need for a sacrifice."

The crushing wave flowed over Nico again, stronger than before.


	12. Chapter 11

**We're almost done.**

* * *

Nico felt herself being pulled towards the portal. It was a horrible feeling, like the pull was ripping her into two pieces. "You bastard!" she shouted. "I gave you the staff and the spellbook."

"But the spellbook is useless to me," said Kenyon. "Only a Minoru can access its powers. That's why I need you."

"But… hnn," Nico crouched and tried to resist getting sucked in. "You're killing me."

"Well, not your body," said Kenyon. "You see, all I need is your flesh and blood to keep opening the spellbook for me. Your soul will be taken as the sacrifice, and what's left behind will be a thrall, a mindless slave. Very much like a zombie, except not nearly as ugly."

"Just wait," she said with anger. "My friends are going to kill you."

"Yes, the turn of events was unfortunate. If they had stayed, the force of the death wave would have debilitated them instantly. They were lucky they left. Looks like I'll have to hunt them down after you die."

"'Unfortunate' is an understatement, Kenyon." Nico and Kenyon both looked to see an old woman with a twice crooked staff walking towards the circle of stones. Kenyon shook with fear.

"Headwitch," he stammered. "I had no idea you had returned. Please, allow me to finish."

The Headwitch glared at him. Her sky blue eyes began to glow. "You allowed the police to hunt our Guild. You made deals with local rulers. You associated with this girl against my wishes."

"You can't hurt me if that's what you're thinking," Kenyon said. "I've collected enough magical items to protect me from all kinds of hexes, spells and curses."

"That you have," said the Headwitch. "That's why I stole one of these." The Headwitch drew a police pistol. Kenyon's eyes grew wide. She shot him three times in the chest.

He screamed and collapsed to the floor. The Staff of One rolled across the roof. The Headwitch levitated over to him. He gaped at her, and barely made the sounds, "Help me."

"You are beyond help." The Headwitch's staff lit up with lightning. A great crackling sound filled the air and flashing lights blinded Nico as the lightning struck Kenyon for several seconds. When it was finished, he was reduced to little more than a skeleton.

Nico, meanwhile, was still being sucked in by the force wave. The Headwitch again used lightning from her staff to strike the portal, and the wave suddenly ceased. Nico collapsed butt first onto the ground.

"You have a complex ritual going on," the Headwitch said. "Ah, the spellbook." She picked the damaged book off the ground next to Kenyon. She flipped through it. "Still unreadable. It appears that the book has not yet chosen its new owner."

"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Nico, still hyped up on adrenaline.

The Headwitch turned to her. "When I heard that Robert and Tina Minoru had died, I was ecstatic. I quickly assembled a force of wizards and witches to come over to LA, under the guise of stealing the Pride's secrets. But that was only part of it; what I truly sought after was the spellbook. It was my heritage you see, I _the last minoru_."

"You mean… you're a minoru too?" Nico stared as the Headwitch nodded.

"Yes, but imagine my surprise when I discovered that I was in fact _not_ the last minoru, that Robert and Tina's daughter was still running around, playing with magic she knew nothing about. And now that the book has chosen neither of us to be its owner, there's only one thing to do." She motioned to the Staff of One. "Pick it up."

The portal was still open, the ball of light still glowing above it. Nico walked towards the staff, but as she did she asked, "What about the resurrection."

"Without a proper sacrifice it will probably fail. No matter; it is not worth the effort to stop it at this point." Nico picked up the staff. "Face me, girl. We must have a duel."

"A duel?"

"Yes, for ownership of the spellbook, and the heritage of the Minoru clan. A duel to the death."

* * *

_FVOOM! _A fireball shot past the left window of the leapfrog.

"Victor, lock in the auxiliary power," said Chase.

"This is no time for jokes," Victor answered. He maneuvered the leapfrog up so as to not crash into the dragon. Klara and Molly were both shaking, startled by the fireball and sudden rise in temperature the leapfrog had taken.

Chase strapped on the fistigons, and then slammed a button on the controls. Before Victor could ask what the heck the blonde kid was doing, Chase had gone up the top hatch. Victor stared in disbelief; he did not even know they had a top hatch. Chase felt the rush of wind as he stuck his head outside the top of the leapfrog. Next to come out were the fistigons, which he used to push himself up a little bit higher. The leapfrog had turned around and was approaching the dragon again.

Chase thought hard about something witty to say, but then realized that no one would be able to hear him at this height and speed, which meant he could yell whatever he wanted.

"Burn you *&%$ing Jurassic Park reject." Chase shot a fireball at the dragon, which spun around and shot a fireball ten times the size in return. Chase smiled. The fistigons allowed him to control and shape fire, so he deflected the blast, making it circle around the leapfrog, and finally fly back at the dragon's head.

"Wow," said Klara, breaking her nose on the leapfrog's window.

"That was cool," admitted Molly.

The dragon, in a rage, shot another fireball, and Chase repeated the trick, hitting the dragon right in the eyes. It stumbled around, roaring, knocking itself into a skyscraper and causing debris to fall over the streets.

"We can't control it anymore," said one of the Guild members. "Summon it away!" The dragon slowly grew transparent and finally disappeared altogether.

"Archaeologists are going to have fun with those footprints," said Victor.

Karolina approached another group of wizards and witches on the ground. "Surrender yourselves."

The wizards aimed their spells. Then there was a giant _CRASH _as the leapfrog landed behind them, severely cracking the pavement and causing at least one witch to tumble over.

"SURRENDER YOURSELVES," screamed the leapfrog's announcer. The Guild members put up their hands.

Karolina sighed. "It took you guys long enough."

The leapfrog's hatch opened and the two girls quickly ran out. Klara noticed some moss growing on a building wall. Not much, but something she could work with. Molly, noticing another group of wizards, picked up a lamppost and yelled, "Princess Powerful Smash!" But before she could reach them, Klara had wrapped their legs up in vines, immobilizing them and pulling them to the ground. "Aww," said Molly, "Not fair. You're supposed to be my sidekick."

"Stop!" A group of policemen approached them. "You are all under arrest."

Karolina flew over them. "Are you insane? We're on your side. Look, your boss Mister Fatsacks probably got the city into this mess, never mind what he did to us."

"Freeze," the policeman persisted.

"YOU FREEZE," shouted Victor from the leapfrog's announcer. The police stumbled backward. "PEOPLE ARE IN DANGER AND WE'RE HELPING YOU GUYS WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT." The leapfrog jumped away, and Karolina flew towards Klara and Molly. The policemen noticed one wizard levitating a man upside down.

"Well, heck," one officer said, "We could use the help."

* * *

"I don't want to fight you," protested Nico.

"It's customary to bow, girl, not make weak excuses. Like this." The Headwitch gave a slight bow from the waist. "Or would you prefer a curtsy?"

"Look, if you want the spellbook, just take it. It's caused me enough trouble already."

"The duel has begun. _Disarm_." A white energy bolt emitted from the Headwitch's hand and knocked the Staff of One out of Nico's hand. "_No_," said Nico. She stretched out her hand and the staff came back to her, as it by telekinesis. "Hmm," said the Headwitch. "That staff must really like you. No matter. _Rain of Fire_."

"_Heat Shield_." Several small meteors descended upon Nico, but an invisible shield that her staff created destroyed them as they hit. The girl kept trying to reason with the witch. "Seriously. Just. Take. The spellbook."

"That would be futile," the Headwitch explained. "It has not chosen an owner, so neither of us can unlock its secrets until one of us is dead. And I didn't spend all those years infiltrating the wretched Guild as my family died out in order to lose to an impudent child. _Lightning Strike._"

"_Rubber_," said Nico the moment she heard "lightning". As expected, a lightning bolt emitted from the Headwitch's staff, but a suit of rubber appeared around Nico which absorbed the damage. When Nico moved, the rubber simply fell off. The Headwitch laughed.

"It's called the Staff of One, isn't it? That means you can use spells only one. _Lightning Strike_."

"_Miss me!_" The bolt deflected and flew out into the air. Nico figured that although she could cast spells only once, her staff was a lot stronger. "_Many me's." _The Headwitch blinked. There were no less than twenty copies of Nico standing around her now. But which was the real one. "What's the matter?" They all said. "Has this impudent girl outsmarted you?"

"_True from_," she said. A spotlight descended upon the real Nico.

"Shit."

"_Leg Freeze_." Nico could not think of a block. Her legs clamped together and she felt to the ground. But still holding the staff, she yelled, "_Just Go Away._"

The Headwitch disappeared. Nico looked around for half a minute. She was alone, safe, although her legs were still magically tied together. A simple spell should take care of that. "_Unwind_." The legs snapped back to normal. Nico stood up and dusted herself off.

Then the Headwitch teleported in right behind her. "_Death touch._" Nico felt cold fingers grasp the back of her neck. A wave of shivering traveled all over her body, and suddenly she could not control her limbs anymore. She fell to the ground; her head was spinning and the air was feeling very damp. The Headwitch's voice began to echo. "The secrets of the Minoru clan are mine."

Nico's sight began to fade. Am I dying, she thought. She tried to mouth the spell "heal", but the Headwitch had kicked away her staff. It was alright, she thought, Kenyon taught me how to use spells without the staff. Heal, she kept trying to say. Heal. Come on, heal! The message wasn't making it to her mouth right. Nico thought she heard someone laughing. Then everything went black.

* * *

"Nico. Nico, wake up." Nico looked into a pudgy face. The image was blurry at first, but it slowly came together. She took note of the features. Dimpled cheeks. Rimmed glasses. Purple hair…

"Gertrude!" The girl was even dressed in her old clothes. Nico ran to hug her, but to her surprise fell right through as if Gert was a ghost.

"Woah there, Sister Grimm," Gertrude said. "Show a little patience. You're not dead yet."

"Not dead? But… oh." Nico looked down at her body, spread out on the building's roof like a snow angel. "Crap. But if I'm not dead, then why am I here? Why are you here?"

"What am I, a magic expert?" said Gertrude. "You probably forced yourself into astral projection form the last minute. As for me, given that I don't believe in souls I'm probably just a hallucination."

"Not, you're real, Gert," said Nico. "You're here because of the ritual. See the white light down there." Nico pointed. "That's supposed to be your body forming."

"Sorry Nico," said Gert, "There isn't an inch of me in there. Gertrude is dead."

Nico sighed. Then tears started to well up, even though she could not be sure they were real tears given she was not actually in her body. "I'm sorry Gert," she sobbed. "I tried to bring you back. But Kenyon lied to me. The ritual needed a sacrifice and I… I just made a mess of everything."

"There, there girl," said Gertrude. "You didn't let me finish. I'm not in the light because I'm really dead. I can't be brought back. However, there's someone else who didn't really die, who's stuck in limbo, and who was in your mind at the time."

"In my…" It slowly hit Nico, but it hit her like a sledgehammer. "You mean… no it… it was supposed to be you, Gert, it was supposed to be you."

"But it isn't," Gertrude replied evenly.

"Alex? You're telling me Alex is forming down there?"

"Looks like," said Gertrude. "But hey, enough about who's coming back to life, we've got to make sure you don't die. Get back into your body, and kick the gray hair out of that old witch."

Nico looked down. She noticed that the Headwitch had picked up the spellbook and was studying it. A sudden feeling of calmness and determination overtook Nico; she knew what to do.

"Gert," she said, "I really missed you. We all did. I miss you so much."

"That's nice," she answered. They hugged, and no one fell through each other this time. Nico squeezed as hard as she could, and Gertrude did so in return. "Now," Gertrude disengaged the hug and pushed Nico away, "Back in you go."


	13. Chapter 12

**Laaaast part, which means it's your last chance to leave a review. Tell me how you liked the story.**

* * *

The sacred stones flickered. The portal under the light began to close and the light began to condense. The Headwitch watched the event in surprise. Strange, she thought. The resurrection seemed to be working. She turned back to the spellbook. Why couldn't she read it yet? Of course, she thought as she looked at Nico, the girl must not be dead yet. She must have protected herself somehow.

No matter; she just had to destroy the body. The Headwitch muttered, "_Incinerate_," and her hand lit up with a red flame. She walked closer to Nico. She aimed.

Nico opened her eyes and said, "_Up_."

A rush of wind captured both of them. The roof shrunk below them as they climbed higher and higher. The Headwitch held tightly onto her staff, her old and frail body not fit for this kind of physical force. "Where are you taking us?" she yelled.

"Just a couple miles into the lower stratosphere," yelled back Nico. "What's the matter? Can't levitate?"

"Insolent child. I'll show you why I don't need to levitate." Nico noticed blue energy swirling around the Headwitch. Her sky blue eyes were glowing and her staff was surging with energy again. "_From the depths of the ethereal planes, come forth Yggdrasil."_

There was a short burst of magical light before a creature flew out from the clouds. It was sky blue like the Headwitch's eyes, almost camouflaged in the air. Six wings beat from the back of its snake-like body, which was covered in more feathers than scales. At its tail end was a whip which would snap as the creature turned and at its front were two pinhole eyes and sharp, double-rowed teeth. It circled Nico and the Headwitch in the air, crying a strangely high pitched roar.

"My stead," says the Headwitch. "He gets very hungry. It has been a long time before he has tasted human flesh."

"Unlucky for you," said Nico. She raised the Staff of One. She could only cast this spell once, but once would be all she ever needed. "I'm sorry." She looked straight into the creature's eye and said, "_I am your master now._"

The Headwitch shuddered. "No. No, you can't. That's just not fair."

The creature again roared. The wind got more vicious as it rolled towards the old woman. "Stop. You obey me, understand? You obey me."

"Don't kill her!" cried Nico. "Don't…" It opened its mouth and a vortex pulled the Headwitch in.

"You little shit," she kept crying. "I was the last Minoru. Me. Me!"

"Don't… don't kill…" The creature had swallowed the Headwitch whole, and was already riding back into the clouds. Nico realized that she was slowly descending, the roof reappearing below her, where Kenyon's field of protection had expired. Slowly she took notice that the stones were no longer glowing, and that the white light was gone. In its place was a naked African-American teen with a compact afro, lying on the rooftop. Slowly Nico touched the surface and walked towards him.

He was sleeping. Considering herself somewhat of a gentlewoman, she tore off the lower part of her dress and covered his, uh, man-bits. Now her legs felt a little cold but she could just stitch up a new dress anyway. She took a good, long look. It was Alex all right. Man.

Chase was going to kill her.

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Turns out Nico's spell didn't bring back Gert. It brought back Alex instead. Everyone's a little disappointed, especially Chase. He had a big argument with Nico, but I think he believes her when she says it wasn't her fault. She also says that she saw Gert but Chase just got more disappointed when he heard that Gert didn't leave a message for him. Anyway, Alex is still asleep and we haven't been able to wake him up yet._

_A lot of other stuff happened. That group of wizards that attacked everybody is gone, "vanished" Karolina says. Turns out the police were attacking them and they got angry, and now everybody is angry at the police chief that captured us. Victor made us watch the news and a man said that the chief was going to be replaced, and that he might be in trouble along with a man named Michael Blaine for doing stuff without a warrant. I don't understand it all, but Nico says we won't be hunted anymore and that's great!_

_Since we helped save the city, we even got mentioned on TV. The mayor said we should be treated as heroes. Other people aren't so sure, but I say we've always been heroes. Victor says that now the mayor stands a chance at getting reelected; I didn't know he was running against anybody in the first place._

_We still need a place to live. We could stay at Victor's as long as we want, but it's getting a little bit cramped. Old Lace needs room to exercise. She and Klara are playing while I'm writing this. Nico went ahead and threw away the spellbook; she says that she wants to forget her family history and that the book was nothing but trouble._

_Anyway, I don't like Alex but I can't help but think that he's changed, that he's gotten better. I even swear I remember him talking to me once, after he died. I don't know, maybe it was just a dream._

_-Molly_

"Hey Mol, we're going out for pizza," called Chase.

"Hey, wait for me. I want to try pineapple and mushrooms like Karolina always gets."

* * *

Chase aimed the hose at the leapfrog. It was a while since it had been cleaned, and since the hunt for them had been dropped Chase figured it was safe to wash it in the open. Water splashed off its green hide. "Not feeling talkative today, frog?" he said. "Me neither."

"_Actually, Mister Chase,_"it said_, "I have a transmission for you. I received it while on the rooftop when we extracted Master Alex's body."_

"A transmission?" he asked. "From who?"

"_Gertrude Yorkes_."

Chase dropped the hose. He swallowed a lump in his throat and evenly said, "What did she have to say?"

"_Transmission: I loved you Chase, don't ever doubt that, and I miss you. You must be disappointed that I didn't come back, but don't worry: I've moved on and so can you. Don't let anyone call you stupid or put you down. You've got a lot of potential and should be proud of it. Make sure Nico doesn't get too fresh with Alex; steal her away from him if you have to. That's an order, honey. Gert_."

Chase felt tears well up in his eyes. He wiped them away and picked up the hose again. "It's a great day, frog," he said.

"Glad you think so," said Nico as she walked up to him. "What are you so teary-eyed about?"

"Oh, just thinking about Gert," He answered, "Something she once said."

"Uh-huh," said Nico. "It's too bad. Kenyon played us like fools."

"It wasn't your fault," said Chase as he continued watering down the frog. "It wasn't anyone's fault." They stood in silence as Chase moved the hose in a horizontal motion. He asked, "So when Alex wakes up, what are you going to do?"

"Like I said: slap him across the face."

"And then what?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't know. Initiation? We're stuck with each other after all." She stretched her arms and yawned. "We've always got problems, don't we?"

"But we'll get through them," Chase replied. "Just like always."

* * *

_"Remember the first year we all got together, K? When we hid in Alex's basement and watched R-rated movies on cable and Gert told us what all the dirty jokes meant even though she was wrong half the time? Why can't it still be like that? How come we didn't get to have crazy-long childhoods like every other spoiled brat in the country?"_

_Karolina sat next to Chase and said, "Gert used to say that kids spend their whole lives wanting to be adults and adults spend their lives wanting to be kids."_

_"Hn. What do you think Gert wanted?"_

_"I don't know," answered Karolina as Chase stared further into the pitch-black sky, "she just spent her life living."_

_

* * *

_

**Acknowledgements**

A big thanks to _Stormgirl415_ for all her reviews and support. Thanks also to _halloweenbaby_, _Fire Tears X_, and _Blanks _for leaving reviews, as well as all the readers who favorited me or put this story on their "story alerts" list. Uh, a big thanks to BKV for creating _Runaways, _an awesome comic.

And yeah, that should be it.

Right now I don't have another fic planned. I'm probably going to take a break from writing for a while. When I do come back, I may write a sequel to this fic, or something for another fandom. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the story. Free free to message me if you have any questions about it, or leave a review of course.


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